Improving Water Quality in Beaver County
Location
ECC 303/305
Event Website
https://water.usu.edu/
Start Date
3-31-2008 4:30 PM
End Date
3-31-2008 4:45 PM
Description
For many years the Beaver County Water Quality Task Force has worked with many different agencies and private land owners to increase public awareness of the importance of improving water quality in the Beaver River and surrounding watershed. One of our first challenges was to get land owners and farmers to think about changing their operations. Now 14 years later most of the farmers in the watershed know about our 319 watershed funds and we have had over 60 of them sign up and complete projects. Projects have included manure management systems, stream bank restoration, range seeding, piping streams, windbreak planting and improving irrigation systems. Besides for annual tours we have conducted workshops and training to educate producers on best management practices and inform them of the cost share programs available. Another goal of the Beaver River Steering Committee is help raise public awareness of the importance of protecting the watershed. One method to accomplish this has been to create an annual Beaver River Watershed day. For the past 11 years more than 1600 volunteers have participated in this conservation activity. High school students, 4-H & FFA members, dedicated hunters, state and federal agency people and anyone who cares about the environment has all joined together to plant willows and windbreaks in the watershed. The willow planting project along the Beaver River is designed to help stabilize the river bank, reducing sediment, and as the trees grow, absorb phosphorus from the water. For three years we have planted shrubs and browse in a burn area East of Beaver. This past year we used student to control noxious weeds in the watershed. We have also worked with youth groups to adopt sections of the river and pledge to continue looking after the areas on an ongoing basis. The obvious value of these volunteer activities is the improvement of the watershed but another possibly greater value is making the kids and adults that take part aware of the importance of improving water quality in the Beaver River and improving the whole Beaver River Watershed.
Improving Water Quality in Beaver County
ECC 303/305
For many years the Beaver County Water Quality Task Force has worked with many different agencies and private land owners to increase public awareness of the importance of improving water quality in the Beaver River and surrounding watershed. One of our first challenges was to get land owners and farmers to think about changing their operations. Now 14 years later most of the farmers in the watershed know about our 319 watershed funds and we have had over 60 of them sign up and complete projects. Projects have included manure management systems, stream bank restoration, range seeding, piping streams, windbreak planting and improving irrigation systems. Besides for annual tours we have conducted workshops and training to educate producers on best management practices and inform them of the cost share programs available. Another goal of the Beaver River Steering Committee is help raise public awareness of the importance of protecting the watershed. One method to accomplish this has been to create an annual Beaver River Watershed day. For the past 11 years more than 1600 volunteers have participated in this conservation activity. High school students, 4-H & FFA members, dedicated hunters, state and federal agency people and anyone who cares about the environment has all joined together to plant willows and windbreaks in the watershed. The willow planting project along the Beaver River is designed to help stabilize the river bank, reducing sediment, and as the trees grow, absorb phosphorus from the water. For three years we have planted shrubs and browse in a burn area East of Beaver. This past year we used student to control noxious weeds in the watershed. We have also worked with youth groups to adopt sections of the river and pledge to continue looking after the areas on an ongoing basis. The obvious value of these volunteer activities is the improvement of the watershed but another possibly greater value is making the kids and adults that take part aware of the importance of improving water quality in the Beaver River and improving the whole Beaver River Watershed.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/runoff/2008/AllAbstracts/23