A windfall for watershed conservation
State allocates record $4.3 million to clean up Rapp County, points downstream
There’s an old saying that a nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore. What did Yogi Berra know?
Greg Wichelns, district manager of the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District (CSWCD), is suddenly swimming in funding — an unprecedented $4.3 million — earmarked by the Commonwealth for conservation practices in Rappahannock County and points downstream.
“That’s a big change for us because we normally get a hefty amount of money and they’ve given us three times the amount,” Wichelns tells the Rappahannock News during an interview at his office just off Sperryville Pike.
The reason?
The Culpeper District stands out among others in the Chesapeake Bay watershed of contributing nearly 70 percent of the nitrogen pollution entering the bay from agriculture sources. The state is hoping that with its increased amount of cost share funding, Rappahannock’s farmers will “voluntarily” implement new agriculture conservation practices — stream fencing projects, pest and forestry management, and plenty more — before the Commonwealth considers enforcing mandatory compliance.
In other words, Richmond hopes the county’s agriculture industry workers and residents alike take advantage of the generous amount of cost sharing monies — as much as “100 percent” cost share rates for certain projects — while it’s here for the taking and before the state breathes down anybody’s neck.
“We typically on average get about $1.5 million and we just got hit with $4.3 [million]. We’re really scratching our head. Do we think we’re going to get rid of $4.3? I’ll tell you we think that is a pretty big stretch to allocate $4.3 million this year, however we’re going to do everything we can to give it our best shot,” Wichelns tells this newspaper.
“The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan III . . . suggests that the Commonwealth will consider setting a date by which all perennial streams would be expected to be fenced. Beyond that date . . . who knows? Right now, the Commonwealth is putting a lot of money on the table for the voluntary approach.”
Lynn Graves, chairman of the CSWCD, says “significant” increased flexibility, reimbursement rates, and funding is available for more than 75 practices, from stream and livestock exclusion practices and forestry management to riparian buffer plantings, cover crops, grazing land and nutrient management, even cropland conversion to sod — all now receiving “higher payments.”
“The state is serious about funding the program and increasing flexibility to get more accomplished,” Graves states.
“And with it,” adds Wichelns, “comes all of our expertise for free.”
“We come out there and meet, look over what you’re thinking, tell you what we’re thinking, how the program works,” he says. “Our staff then puts pencil to paper and they come up with a plan, and you revise it maybe if you don’t like exactly what they did. We come to an agreement, it gets approved by our technical committee, eventually goes to the board for the full board blessing, gets funded, and you hire yourself a contractor; or if you’re the right person you do it yourself, [say] if you’re a fence builder. It’s pretty lenient, it’s not overly ratcheted.”
Erosion and stormwater practices are other issues targeted by the Culpeper district, especially surrounding gravel roads and driveways. Flat or sloped, they all experience the same problems, says CWSCD, especially in the wake of last year’s record rainfall in Rappahannock County that left visible rills and gullies. The district will provide financial assistance to homeowners, businesses, and governments alike to address erosion, poor drainage, even poor vegetative cover.
While there is obviously much work still to be done in the various agriculture conservation, management and restoration practices, Wichelns calls attention to impressive progress made in Rappahannock County over the past decade or more, most specifically improving the quality of rivers and streams in the “Upper Hazel Watershed.”
The Rappahannock County watershed, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) educates, covers 225,990 acres and includes the Hughes, Rush, Thornton and Hazel Rivers. The Hazel River originates in Rappahannock and continues downstream to its confluence with the Rappahannock River. DEQ in both 2002 and 2004 first listed the Hazel and its tributaries on Virginia’s list of impaired waters for violations of the bacteria water quality standard.
According to a DEQ report, a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study was completed in 2007 to address the impairments. In 2009, a TMDL Implementation Plan was completed, followed by a grant funded project. In fact, the project was awarded funds that lasted all the way through June 2019. To reduce bacteria loadings, various agricultural and residential best management practices were employed through a mix of federal, state, landowner, and private foundation funds and incentives.
Besides CSWCD, groups like RappFLOW, Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), and the Rappahannock County government formed alliances early on to begin to address the bacteria impaired streams.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Water Quality Improvement Fund also issued grants promoting public education about homeowner actions like septic system maintenance and repairs. The grant projects — “Implementing the Strategy: The Rappahannock River Starts Here” and the “Clean Streams Initiative” — supported a stormwater ordinance, enhancement of erosion and sediment control, identification of zoning ordinance changes for water quality protection, public seminars on water quality topics, and cost-share for septic tank pump-outs and system repairs.
In 2009, the Krebser Fund/PEC also pledged $50,000 to reimburse landowners in Rappahannock County who installed stream exclusion fencing to protect water quality. In combination with state and federal incentive programs, the contribution made it cost-neutral for farmers to fence livestock out of streams and provided an incentive for new stream fencing participants.
At the same time, failed or failing septic systems for 1,346 Rappahannock County homes were targeted. And in 2010, within the Town of Washington (the Rush River watershed), 98 residences and businesses that had experienced problems with malfunctioning septic systems due to aging systems and poorly drained soils were connected to a new municipal wastewater treatment system.
Almost overnight, the water quality of the Rush River surrounding the county seat improved dramatically.
For more information on the myriad 2019-2020 CSWCD programs and unprecedented amount of funding available to Rappahannock residents, contact the Culpeper District office at 540-825-8591.