Soil and Water Conservation District reports grant awards and programming; on-farm demos and education expand

The Adams County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) updated commissioners on grant awards, on-farm demonstration projects and community outreach, reporting multiple sources of funding and new programs to support soil health and nutrient management.

Makayla, speaking for the district, said the office closed out a Clean Water Indiana grant and spent most of the award on pollinator plots and public outreach; she reported roughly $7,920 (transcript phrasing uncertain) was remaining from a $35,100 award. The district organized pollinator outreach events and distributed native plants, and hosted a trip that took 41 FFA students and a community group to Lake Erie research facilities where students performed water-quality monitoring and fish trawls.

The district is running an NRCS-funded on-farm demonstration project with participating farms, and is compiling soil and water testing data to build a case for conservation practices. The SWCD said it is partnering with the Maumee Watershed Alliance (MWA) to offer no-cost soil, manure and irrigation-water testing backed by technical assistance; the MWA is also a partner in financial support. Makayla said the district has applied for additional Clean Water Indiana funding and an NACD technical-assistance grant (about $34,500 requested) that would support staffing for agronomy services and student interns rather than infrastructure.

Makayla provided a financial summary: Clean Water Indiana funding reported as $21,620; partnership funds through MWA at $16,190 with an additional $8,000 pledged; urban soil-health funding at $1,050; and on-farm demo spending of $30,908.77, yielding a reported total of about $69,007.69. She said the district tries to spend grant dollars locally when possible, hiring local services and purchasing local supplies.

The district also reported drafting a watershed-management-plan grant application with the Upper Wabash River Basin Commission for approximately $135,000; the district pledged in-kind monitoring services (valued at about $28,000) as match. State agency review could move the application into a 205(j) fund source that would remove the match requirement. Makayla said funding decisions are expected later in the year and implementation grants could follow once a watershed plan is updated.

Commissioners were invited to public nutrient-management meetings and other outreach events; SWCD staff said they will continue to coordinate with county engineers and river-basin partners on watershed and drainage issues.