WASHINGTON – U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack has announced a new pilot program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Kansas and Colorado to remove sediments from ponds to help provide more water for livestock or for irrigation. The new program is part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. NRCS has made available more $16 million through EQIP for water conservation, practices, and wildlife habitat that have been affected by the drought. In addition, Vilsack said conservation systems installed with support from NRCS over the last four years have sharply reduced water withdrawn from the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides much of the water for much of the Great Plains, including central and western Kansas.
Monday, Dec. 17, 9 a.m.
