Conservation

FEDERAL COST SHARE PROGRAMS

NRCS Programs

FSA Programs

STATE COST SHARE PROGRAMS

Partners For Conservation (PFC)

Tax Incentive Filter Strip Program

Illinois Water Well Abandonment Practice (IWWAP)

OTHER PROGRAMS

Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

Partners For Conservation (PFC)

Each fiscal year the SWCD has cost-share funds available for various conservation practices. Practices included in the program are Filter-Strips, Field Border Strips, Grassed Waterways, Critical Area Plantings, No-Till, Cover Crops and Grade Stabilization Structures.

Contract sign-up is typically in April, although notification of your interest in the program can be discussed at any time of year. The SWCD Board of Directors will prioritize the application received based on tons of soil saved, acres benefited, cost per acre of practice, and cost per ton of soil saved. Practices must be installed in the spring or fall of that calendar year.

To be eligible, landowners need to have a conservation plan approved by the SWCD.  To receive cost share, the land upon which the land user intends to install the practice must conserve soil & protect water quality, reduce soil erosion & improve water quality, improve soil health & pollinator habitat, or Water Well Decommissioning projects (WDP).

PFC funds are available through the Conservation 2000 legislation to help landowners achieve the T by 2000 goals set by the state of Illinois. Achieving tolerable soil loss levels on cropland will assure productive agricultural lands for the future as well as help improve water quality.

Tax Incentive Filter Strip Program

As an incentive for installing protective vegetative filter strips on land adjacent to surface or ground water sources, landowners may receive a reduced property tax assessment of 1/6th of its value as cropland.  Landowners can expect to save about $1 to $25 per acres in taxes depending on soils and local tax rates.

Vegetative filter strip design and certification assistance is available from the Soil and Water Conservation District office.

Illinois Water Well Abandonment Practice (IWWAP)

The purpose of the Illinois Water Well Abandonment Practice is to provide technical and financial assistance to owners of improperly abandoned wells who wish to seal those weals to protect groundwater from potential contamination.  This goal is consistent with the five-year goal of the Illinois Water Well Sealing Coalition to double the current rate at which abandoned water wells are being sealed within the date, particularly in rural areas.

Specific objectives for the practices are:

  • Establish cooperative relationships among participating SWCD’s, local health departments and other agencies that provide technical and/or financial assistance for proper well abandonment;
  • Ensure that state and local standards for well abandonment are followed;
  • Establish priorities for cost-share assistance to target those wells that pose the greatest risk to groundwater resources;
  • Demonstrate the benefits of properly abandoning wells;
  • Seek additional state funding and encourage development of local funding sources to supplement the IWWAP program; and
  • Encourage at least one well-abandonment demonstration in each participating county.

Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

Landowners with more than 5 acres of unimproved land such as woodlands. prairie, wetlands or other undeveloped land (excluding farmland) can take advantage of property tax savings by simply developing and implementing a conservation plan designed to protect natural resources.  The Conservation Stewardship (CSP) provides this tax saving incentive for landowners who are willing to commit to maintaining and managing their unimproved land.

Landowners who wish to receive the special valuation are required to prepare and implement a conservation plan.  The Winnebago County Soil and Water Conservation District can assist landowners in writing a plan that will contain all the necessary components for approval by the IDNR.  The approved plan then qualifies landowners for the special valuation and the adjustment in the valuation will be made.



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