Sherman County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) provides local leadership in implementation of watershed enhancement projects focused on improving fish and wildlife habitat, water quality, and overall watershed health.  The SWCD works closely with the Sherman County Area Watershed Council which acts as an umbrella council for the four Watershed Councils in Sherman County to develop and implement scientifically sound, economically feasible natural resource conservation plans for private landowners.

The project will implement riparian buffer systems and other habitat improvement projects that address limiting factors identified in the John Day and Deschutes Sub-basin Summaries for areas of both subbasins in Sherman County.  This project will provide the technical assistance and planning support needed to implement riparian buffer contracts and conservation practices.  A portion of time from district technicians and a watershed council coordinator will be dedicated to the outreach and promotion of state and federal riparian programs in addition to the technical planning support needed to implement riparian buffer agreements and other habitat improvement projects over the contract year.  Buffers widths will average 60 feet on each side of the qualifying streams but may also vary in width from 35 to 180 feet on each side of the stream.  Actual implementation costs, lease payments and maintenance costs will be funded by existing USDA programs such as: Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP), and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).  Program leases will be for 10-15 year periods.  Implementation practices will include fencing, plantings, off stream water systems and other related practices necessary to ensure restoration and enhancement of the riparian and upland areas.  Other funding sources, such as Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), will also be used as needed based on availability.  This program meets a critical need in conducting assessments and developing plans to address riparian and overall watershed health for the Lower John Day and Lower Deschutes Sub-basins.  This project implements requirements associated with Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPA) 153 and 154.

The SWCD uses the USDA NRCS Nine step planning process to develop these plans: (1) Identify problems and opportunities, (2) Determine Objectives, (3) Inventory resources, (4) Analyze resource inventory, (5) Formulate alternatives, (6) Evaluate alternatives, (7) Decision - Select Alternative, (8) Implement the Plan, (9) Evaluate plan (monitor).

Notes:
Operation and Maintenance (O&M) are not required in this project:
Actual O&M costs are either the responsibility of the landowner/operator or are funded in Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The landowner/operator signs a project agreement with the Sherman County SWCD on non-CREP water quality/habitat improvement projects in which it is specified that maintenance is the landowner/operator's responsibility for the expected lifespan of the installed structure(s).

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is included as a cost item.  This is accomplished through field inspections.  Additionally, records of stream miles, acreage and number of plans completed will be tracked for reporting purposes:
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) has fiscal and administrative responsibility for managing CREP contracts to ensure contract terms are being met.  Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has responsibility for technical supervision of all USDA installed practices.  NRCS delegates authority to the SWCD to provide this technical supervision as long as the SWCD adheres to NRCS standards and specifications.  Through this delegation, SWCD technicians will use the NRCS Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (provided by NRCS) as the principal monitoring and evaluation tool to evaluate and describe both pre- and post- CREP project conditions.