NC New Deal Boards Adapt to New Demands

This week, the Independent Weekly writes about a little known, yet long-standing public tradition in central North Carolina. The article highlights the responsibilities of the publicly funded and partially elected Soil & Water Conservation District Boards.

Cox says the 70-year history of the program has had a fairly consistent goal. "The central focus for a long time hasn't changed; it's water quality," Cox says. The methods and the priorities, though, have gone through a transition. They started with helping farmers manage runoff from croplands—changing tilling practices, improving drainage and encouraging implementation of no-till farming. In the 1980s, with the explosion of the state's hog and poultry industry, districts began focusing on projects meant to keep livestock and livestock waste out of streams, such as alternative water supplies, fencing and other infrastructure to reduce nutrient-rich runoff.

The New Deal era program is proving to be a valuable asset to the state as suburban population growth expands into agricultural areas.

If you look at where the majority of land disturbance is happening, Cox says, it's not in agricultural lands, but in the sprawling suburbs. And stormwater runoff is the No. 1 threat to water quality in the state.

The unique program has proven useful in the past and is attempting to adapt and expand its influence as the needs of the State change. Much of the Southeast is experiencing rapid population growth. The Soil and Water Conservation board was not originally set up to deal with growth, but is helping North Carolina adapt.

Urban and suburban projects aren't the only area for expansion of the conservation districts' role. McNaught says Environmental Defense has worked with local soil and water boards to preserve Piedmont prairie habitats in the Uharrie National Forest and improve stream protection along a stretch of the Cape Fear River native to the endangered Cape Fear Shiner.

McNaught says the local ties the districts have with farmers and landholders are important. The key to any program is the implementation, he says, and the districts are at ground level.