Area landowners eligible for flood-plain easements

Owners of frequently flooded land have until March 27 to apply for permanent flood-plain easements, which are being funded by the $787 billion federal stimulus package.

Up to $145 million will be available to eligible landowners nationwide as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. That funding is expected to create jobs and restore an estimated 60,000 acres of frequently flooded land to its natural state.

Landowners whose applications are approved will receive both technical and financial assistance to restore the flood plains, according to Harold Deckerd, assistant state conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service in Missouri.

The Show-Me State has been divided into five regions, each with a specific easement rate cap, which also applies to flood-plain easements. In Region IV, which includes Greene, Christian and Webster counties, the cap is $1,500 per acre. Deckerd said applications will receive extra points if landowners agree to a lower rate. The goal is to have all of the flood-plain easements acquired and restored within 18 months.

Flood-plain easements are similar to easements obtained by NRCS through its Wetlands Reserve Program with one major exception: Applications that were not eligible for WRP easements may be eligible for flood-plain easements, Deckerd said.

"This isn't part of the Farm Bill, so the rules that kept some WRP applications from being eligible don't apply," Deckerd said in a news release. "For example, we have some landowners who wanted to enroll land in WRP that hadn't owned the land for at least seven years, so they weren't eligible. That would not keep them from being eligible for a flood-plain easement."

The flood-plain easement component of NRCS' Emergency Watershed Protection program allows the agency to purchase easements on land damaged by flooding. Restored flood plains generate public benefits, including increased flood protection, enhanced fish and wildlife habitat, improved water quality and a reduced need for further public assistance. Other benefits include reduced energy consumption when certain agricultural activities and practices are eliminated and increased carbon sequestration as permanent vegetative cover is re-established.

For information on applying for flood-plain easements, visit the link below.[[In-content Ad]]