Join EPA for a Watershed Academy webcast on July 10, 2012, from 1 to 3 p.m. Eastern time to learn more about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Water Quality Initiative. The initiative is focusing on 157 priority watersheds in the U.S. in 2012. The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will make available at least $33 million in financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners this year in these priority watersheds to implement conservation practices to improve water quality and aquatic habitats in impaired lakes and streams.
Using funds from its Environmental Quality Incentives Program, a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers, NRCS will help producers implement conservation practices such as cover crops, nutrient management, filter strips, and terraces. This webcast will highlight how this initiative is working and how NRCS is working with state water quality agencies and others to implement this initiative in priority watersheds.