Lawrence County Soil and Water reports more than $330,000 in drought aid; launches crop and H2Ohio efforts

At the April 1 Lawrence County Commissioners meeting, Peggy Reynolds of Lawrence Soil and Water updated commissioners on emergency drought relief and related programs for local farmers.

Reynolds said Lawrence County landowners applied for emergency help administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency; the federal program ended March 31, 2025. She told commissioners the county received more than $230,000 in federal drought payments and added a county cost-share equal to 37.5% of the federal amount, which Reynolds said produced roughly $100,000 in additional county funds. She said the combined drought money for livestock exceeded $330,000 and that the county had paid out more than $69,000 so far. Reynolds said remaining funds would be picked up from the state office and dispersed to applicants the following day.

Reynolds said a crop assistance program opened March 16 and is now taking sign-ups; she also said a new emergency-loan program is available and that Soil and Water is promoting both programs to eligible landowners.

The district recently purchased a planting drill county officials had approved for shared use, Reynolds said. In the past few weeks she reported five landowners used the drill to plant about 63 acres of cover crops. She also said the Pine Creek Dam inspection was completed last week; crews worked on the riser and cleaned it. Reynolds told commissioners the stormwater report that was due April 1 was submitted in March to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

On permits and projects, Reynolds said the office had issued about 50 floodplain permits to date, including 18 new commercial permits. She named several new projects under review, including a permit related to Casa Grande, several cellular-tower upgrades and a project involving Buffalo Wild Wings.

Reynolds described outreach and education activities: a student from Fairland participated in fieldwork and is helping prepare brochures; the district will pick up ordered trees in Athens for distribution to landowners; and it will distribute trees to second-grade students for Arbor Day.

On H2Ohio, Reynolds said the program emphasis in Lawrence County will be soil fertility and manure-management projects that meet state priorities. She said Soil and Water plans to cost-share projects for water-quality improvements and hopes to hold a kickoff event before or during the county fair.

Reynolds asked the county to support new water-quality studies for Lake Vesuvius and Timber Ridge to assess turbulence and nutrient conditions; she said Lake Jackson is outside the district but that staff want to compare conditions among the lakes if possible. She said she would meet with Rob Hamilton at the state office to seek additional information and coordination.

Commissioners and Reynolds discussed planting equipment upgrades and other county support for farmers; Reynolds said she would follow up on specific study requests and on coordination with state offices.

Reynolds concluded by thanking county officials and noting the programs are intended to get funds quickly into the hands of landowners and to support tourism through improved lake and fishery conditions.