Sherman County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) provides local leadership in implementation of watershed enhancement projects focused on improving fish and wildlife habitat, water quality, and overall watershed health.  The SWCD works closely with the Sherman County Area Watershed Council which acts as an umbrella council for the four Watershed Councils in Sherman County to develop and implement scientifically sound, economically feasible natural resource conservation plans for private landowners.  Working in close partnership with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) the district has the ability to develop and implement scientifically sound and economically feasible resource management plans for private landowners at the local level.

The project will implement riparian buffer systems and address limiting factors identified in the John Day and Deschutes Sub-basin Summaries for areas of both subbasins in Sherman County.  This project will provide the technical planning and support needed to implement four riparian buffer contracts.  A portion of time from district technicians and a watershed council coordinator will be dedicated to the outreach and promotion of state and federal riparian programs in addition to the technical planning support needed to implement four riparian buffer agreements.  Buffers widths will average 60 feet on each side of the qualifying streams but may also vary in width from 35 to 180 feet.  Actual implementation costs, lease payments and maintenance costs will be borne by existing USDA programs: Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP), and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).  Program leases will be for 10-15 year periods.  Implementation practices will include fencing, plantings, off stream water systems and other related practices necessary to ensure restoration and enhancement of the riparian and upland areas.  Other funding sources, such as Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), will also be used as needed based on availability.  This program meets a critical need in conducting assessments and developing plans to address riparian and overall watershed health for the Lower John Day and Lower Deschutes Sub-basins.  

This project fills a critical staffing need to conduct assessments and develop plans to address the growing backlog of potential CREP projects.  Without this position, FSA and NRCS have a backlog of other duties creating another barrier to the implementation of CREP in Sherman County.  Plans developed by the Riparian Buffer Technician 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 opportunities and potential problems, 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 the plan (monitor).

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

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is included as a cost item.  This is accomplished through visual inspections.  Additionally, records of stream miles, acreage and number of plans completed will be tracked for reporting purposes.

FSA has fiscal and administrative responsibility for managing CREP contracts to ensure contract terms are being met.  NRCS has responsibility for technical supervision of all USDA 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.