State Technical Advisory Committee Agenda
Spokane State Office
316 West Boone Avenue, Suite 450
Spokane, WA 99201
Thursday, October 25, 2012
9:30-3:15
Duration / Schedule / Topic / Presenter15 min / 9:30-9:45 / Opening Remarks and Introductions / Roylene Rides at the Door, State Conservationist
60 min / 9:45-10:45 / Improving Investments in Ecosystems Services: Better Quantification and Prioritization of Conservation Spending / Heather Simmons-Rigdon, Executive Director, South Central Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council
20 min / 10:45-11:05 / Easement Priorities
FRPP, GRP, WRP / Monica Hoover, FRPP Program Liaison
Dave Kreft, State Easements Coordinator
25 min / 11:05-11:30 / WRP/GRP FY 13 Geographical Area Rate Caps / Dave Kreft, State Easement Coordinator
30 min / 11:30-12:00 / Lunch
30 min / 12:00-12:30 / 329 Residue Management System: Direct Seed w/Harrow / Bonda Habets, State Resource Conservationist
45 min / 12:30-1:15 / STAC Subcommittee Updates / Bonda Habets
Larry Johnson, State Conservation Engineer
30 min / 1:15-1:45 / Special initiatives
· Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Partnership
· National Water Quality Initiative
· Others / Rick Noble, East Area Conservationist
Jeff Harlow, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs
75 min / 1:45-3:00 / FY 2013 Local Working Group Packages and Discussion for FY 2014 Kickoff
· Screening Tool
· Funding Pools for Socially Disadvantaged and New and Beginning Farmers / Jeff Harlow
Alan Fulk, Program Liaison
15 min / 3:00-3:15 / Round table and closing / All
STAC TOPIC FORM
TOPIC: Improving investments in Ecosystem Services: Better Quantification and Prioritization of Conservation Spending
PRESENTER: Heather Simmons-Rigdon, Executive Director
South Central Washington RC&D Council
TIME REQUIRED: 1 hour
OBJECTIVE OF TOPIC: To inform NRCS staff and stakeholders of work being done utilizing NRCS funding that will help better identify, quantify, and prioritize funding for conservation in the Yakima Basin.
DECISION__X__INFORMATION__X__DISCUSSION__X___
IF ASKING FOR A DECISION, WHAT IS THE DECISION TO BE MADE:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Yakima Basin Clean Water Partnership, a committee of the South Central Washington RC&D Council, was formed to explore the suitability and applicability of an Ecosystem Services Market in the Yakima Basin. It was envisioned that such a market could reduce wasteful spending on certain expensive and minimally effective water pollutant reduction technologies, and instead allow regulated entities, such as cities, to invest in more effective conservation actions, such as Best Management Practices on farmland or restoration of floodplains. Since that time, many challenges have occurred that have made this more difficult than anticipated. However, the committee has made great strides in identifying information and tools that will give the conservation community a better understanding of where conservation spending and efforts could be most beneficial, even in the absence of a market.
Specifically, Ms. Simmons-Rigdon will discuss several projects, funded by NRCS and being implemented by the South Central Washington RC&D Council. These projects include, 1)Exploring how an Ecosystem Service Market could look in the Yakima Basin, and factors needed to make it work, 2)Looking at potential buyers of ecosystem services and baselines needed to be achieved before market trading could occur, 3)Floodplain supply and analysis that looks at opportunities for floodplain restoration, and 4) A Nutrient Tracking Tool for the Yakima Basin that could help quantify decreases in nutrient runoff as a result of changes in non-point practices.
STAC TOPIC FORM
TOPIC: Farm and Ranchland Protection Program Priority Areas
PRESENTER: Monica Hoover
TIME REQUIRED: 15 min
OBJECTIVE OF TOPIC: To reiterate NRCS need to establish priority areas for the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program
DECISION__X__INFORMATION____DISCUSSION_____
IF ASKING FOR A DECISION, WHAT IS THE DECISION TO BE MADE:
What are the priority areas for the FRPP?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Monica Hoover, Program Liaison, made a presentation at our July 2012 meeting on the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP). Via email on September 18, STAC members were requested to provide recommendations for priority areas for FRPP in Washington State. The purpose of priority areas is to focus the program and direct funds to the highest priority areas. Applications within priority areas will receive additional ranking points. The FRPP program manual requires states to set priority areas that “have the potential for sustainable agricultural activity and are threatened by development.” Currently, NRCS WA divides FRPP funds between the east and west side of the state, but has had no designated priority areas.
No input from the STAC was received, so we are again asking whether you want to have input on this subject. If there are no recommendations from the STAC, the State Conservationist will designate priority areas using other best available information.
PLEASE NOTE: 519.40 A(3). “Representatives from cooperating entities may not be involved in developing ranking criteria, assigning weights to the factors, or developing quantitative scoring criteria for the factors.”
STAC TOPIC FORM
TOPIC: Request for Input on WRP/GRP Geographical Rate Caps for FY 13
PRESENTER: Dave Kreft
TIME REQUIRED: 30 min
OBJECTIVE OF TOPIC: To request concurrence from STAC on GARC proposal
DECISION__X__INFORMATION____DISCUSSION_____
IF ASKING FOR A DECISION, WHAT IS THE DECISION TO BE MADE:
Concurrence on GARC proposal
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Dave Kreft, Washington Easement Coordinator will discuss.
See attached documents, Washington FY2013 GRP Easement Compensation document_3.pdf and Washington 2013 WRP GARC document.pdf.
STAC TOPIC FORM
TOPIC: FY 2013 Local Working Group Packages and Strategy for FY 2014
PRESENTER: Jeff Harlow
TIME REQUIRED: 60 min
OBJECTIVE OF TOPIC: To share results of FY 2013 process and discuss strategy for FY 2014
DECISION____INFORMATION__X__DISCUSSION__X___
IF ASKING FOR A DECISION, WHAT IS THE DECISION TO BE MADE:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Local Working Groups (LWG), subcommittees of the State Technical Advisory Committee, discuss and decide on many important local natural resource issues and priorities. NRCS uses input from the LWGs to focus programs and target funds to address the most critical local resource concerns.
Last January, NRCS held a LWG kick off meeting and provided materials for use by the ten LWGs. Over the spring, LWGs met to identify priority resource concerns for each land use, priority treatment acres, and develop funding pools and ranking questions for priorities.
NRCS will share the information generated by the LWGs and discuss strategy, seeking STAC input, for the FY 2014 program year. A kick off meeting for the FY 2014 program year will be held in January, 2013.
WATCAC - STAC TOPIC FORM
TOPIC: 329 Residue Management System; Direct Seed w/Harrow Update
PRESENTER: Bonda Habets
TIME REQUIRED: 30 minutes
OBJECTIVE OF TOPIC: Direct Seed white paper response
DECISION____INFORMATION__X__DISCUSSION__X ___
IF ASKING FOR A DECISION, WHAT IS THE DECISION TO BE MADE:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In May, 2012, Ty Meyer of the Spokane County Conservation District, presented a white paper advocating removal of rollers/harrows from full-width tillage category under practice standard 329 (attached). On behalf of the Spokane Conservation District, Palouse-Rock Lake Conservation District, Pine Creek Conservation District, Palouse Conservation District, the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association, the McGregor Company, area researchers, and farmers in the region, the paper recommended that the Washington State Conservationist set aside the full-width tillage designation when using rollers and/or harrows after seeding as part of a direct seed or no-till system and enable those implements to stand on their own merits in meeting the overall STIR rating of 30 or less in qualifying for Practice Standard 329.
Since May, NRCS Washington and Regional Agronomists have been evaluating this proposal and will share the results of their evaluation.
WATCAC - STAC TOPIC FORM
TOPIC: STAC Subcommittee Update
PRESENTER: Bonda Habets
TIME REQUIRED: 45 minutes
OBJECTIVE OF TOPIC: Nutrient Management Conservation Practice Implementation Strategy
DECISION____INFORMATION__X__DISCUSSION__ ___
IF ASKING FOR A DECISION, WHAT IS THE DECISION TO BE MADE:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Nutrient Management Subcommittee Update 15 minute to present the minutes of the last meetings, plan of action, and our progress. EPA Yakima study may be brought up so I would figure 15 minutes extra.
15 minutes to present that the Riparian Buffer Subcommittee is on hold. The 5 Director talks (DOE, WSCC, DOA, EPA, NRCS) have initiated a plan that the WDFW will compile the science involved with the Riparian Buffers. It could take two years before we get the product.
15 minutes to present status of Washington Irrigation Guide