Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Whitman County commissioners Monday formally approved the second two-year contract for the Voluntary Stewardship Program (VSP) for $220,000, effective July 1, 2017-June 30, 2019.
The contract is similar to the original, which created the watershed work group that aims to protect agricultural activity while also preserving wetlands, flood plains, animal habitat, aquifer recharge and geologically hazardous areas.
The new funding will cover the implementation of a plan created in the past two years. It was approved Aug. 7 by the Washington State Conservation Commission
“There are a number of deliverables on the contract,” said Mark Storey, Public Works director.
One difference between the two contracts is that 10 percent will be held back until May of 2019, so the county will temporarily need to finance up to $22,000 until it completes certain standard requirements and sends a final report. At that point, the county will be reimbursed.
The state-funded effort aims to find ways to conserve land and waterways without over-regulating farming.
“We're not enhancing or protecting, we're maintaining,” said Brad Johnson, watershed manager at Palouse Conservation District.
With the plan approved and the new contract in place, the committee will now hire someone to coordinate data collection and observation of local lands.
Using a control set of baseline conditions from July 2012, the group will monitor the Palouse River watershed and other watersheds to the Snake River.
In collecting data, landowners will report to the VSP coordinator who will gather information on such things as erosion, existence of chemicals, miles of fence, presence of foliage and water quality/turbidity.
“The watershed is either doing well or not doing well,” said Alan Thomson, Whitman County planner and a member of the VSP committee, along with County Commissioner Art Swannack.
“Every area is going to be different,” said Johnson. “There's a big unknown to a lot of it.”
Whitman County signed on to participate in the state program in 2012. Original funding of $270,000 came in two parts from the Washington Conservation Commission.
The VSP formed after the 2006 failure of Initiative 933, a property rights matter calling for exemptions for landowners of critical areas ordinances.
Afterward, the state legislature referred the matter to the Ruckelshaus Center think tank to find a solution for counties trying to manage environmental and agricultural concerns.
A total of 28 Washington counties chose to participate in the program.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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