Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) provides local leadership in implementation of several full-scale watershed enhancement projects focused on improving watershed health.  Working in close partnership with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) our team's strength is our ability to develop and implement scientifically sound, economically feasible resource management plans for private landowners.

This project to implement riparian buffer systems in the Lower Deschutes and Lower John Day subbasins addresses limiting factors identified in the Deschutes River Sub-basin Summary, March 2, 2001.  It will dedicate 1.0 FTE to provide the technical planning support needed to implement at least 20 riparian buffer system contracts on approximately 800 acres covering an estimated 36 miles of anadromous fish streams.  Buffer widths will be between 35 and 180 ft. on each side of the stream.  Implementation will include prescribed plantings, fencing, and related practices such as off-stream water developments.  Actual implementation costs, lease payments, and maintenance costs will be borne by existing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs: Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP) and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Programs (CREP).  Leases will be for 10-15 year periods.

This program meets a critical need in the lower Deschutes and lower John Day River basins.  This project fills a critical staffing need to conduct assessments and develop plans to address the growing backlog of potential projects.  Approximately 60 reaches are signed up and awaiting technical assistance.  Plans developed under this project are used for federal contracts to implement riparian buffers.
The SWCD uses the USDA NRCS Nine step planning process to develop these plans: (1) Identify problems
and opportunities, (2) Determine Objectives, (3) Inventory resources, (4) Analyze resource inventory, (5)
Formulate alternatives, (6) Evaluate alternatives, (7) Decision - Select Alternative, (8) Implement the Plan,
(9) Evaluate plan (monitor).

Notes:
Operation and Maintenance (O&M) are not required in this project:
Actual O&M is a funded item in the CCRP/CREP contracts whereby the landowner receives a small fee per acre to cover maintenance costs.  The landowner is responsible under the contract for the maintenance.  O&M is funded by USDA.

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is included as a cost item.  Additionally, records of stream miles, acreage and number of plans completed will be tracked for reporting purposes:
Farm Service Agency (FSA) has fiscal and administrative responsibility for managing CREP contracts to ensure contract terms are being met.  Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has responsibility for technical supervision of all installed practices.  NRCS delegates authority to the SWCD to provide this technical supervision as long as the SWCD adheres to NRCS standards and specifications.  Through this delegation, SWCD technicians will use the NRCS Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (provided by NRCS) as the principal monitoring and evaluation tool to evaluate and describe both pre- and post- CREP project conditions.