Do you have plans to partake in an upcoming project that could help conserve water or reduce pollution?

Well, if so, the Guilford County soil and water people – officially the Soil and Water Conservation District Board – may be willing to throw some money your way to fund part or all of that project.

The district board has already allocated all of the available grant money for this year. However, the board is now taking project applications for next year.

There are quite a few offerings that can reduce or eliminate the cost of your efforts.

Some of the more popular ones are as follows:

•Agricultural Water Resources Assistance Program. This program provides cost sharing and incentive payments for conservation efforts that “improve water use efficiency while increasing water storage and availability for agriculture purposes.”

The Water Resources Assistance Program is designed to help find opportunities to increase water use efficiency, availability and storage. Another purpose is to encourage the use of best management practices that conserve and protect water resources.

•North Carolina Agriculture Cost Share Program.  This one is designed to encourage the use of best practices in agricultural production in Guilford County. It provides cost sharing and incentive payments for conservation measures that improve water quality.

•Community Conservation Assistance Program. This is an incentives-based program meant to improve water quality through the implementation of various best practices on urban, suburban and rural lands – lands “not directly involved in agricultural production.” This program offers cost sharing and technical assistance for the installation of good stormwater management practices on non-agricultural land.

•Environmental Quality Incentives Program. This is a conservation program for farmers and ranchers who promote some of the responsible environmental practices that were established in a 2014 Farm Bill.

Voluntary Agricultural District Program. Under this program, property owners voluntarily commit “to enhance the identity of their agriculture community by encouraging the voluntary preservation and protection of farmland from non-farm development.”

This is a voluntary, free program for farm owners who have at least 20 acres of forestland, 10 contiguous acres of farmland and 5 acres of horticultural land.

•Beaver Management Assistance Program.  Has a pesky beaver been giving you a hard time?  Well, Guilford County private and public landowners have the option to take part in the Beaver Management Assistance Program.

 If beavers are causing a problem on your property this program offers technical assistance dealing with those dam beavers at a reduced rate. Landowners can expect to pay $25 per visit and $125 per dam removed with initial site assessments that are provided at no cost.

Applications for the various programs above, as well as others not named can be found at https://www.guilfordcountync.gov/our-county/planning-development/soil-and-water-conservation.

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