161A.73 - VOLUNTARY ESTABLISHMENT OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION PRACTICES.
161A.73 VOLUNTARY ESTABLISHMENT OF SOIL AND WATER
CONSERVATION PRACTICES.
1. The division shall establish voluntary financial incentive
programs which shall provide for the following:
a. The allocation of cost-share moneys as financial
incentives provided for the purpose of establishing permanent soil
and water conservation practices, including but not limited to
terraces, diversions, grade stabilization structures, grassed
waterways, and critical area planting. The financial incentives
shall not exceed fifty percent of the estimated cost of establishing
the practices, or fifty percent of the actual cost, whichever is
less.
b. The allocation of moneys as financial incentives provided
for the purpose of establishing management practices to control soil
erosion on land that is row cropped, including but not limited to
no-till planting, ridge-till planting, contouring, and contour
strip-cropping. The division shall by rule establish limits on the
amount of incentives which shall be authorized for payment to
landowners upon establishment of the practice.
c. The allocation of cost-share moneys as financial
incentives provided to establish practices to protect watersheds
above publicly owned lakes of the state from soil erosion and
sediment. The financial incentives shall be awarded to watersheds
which are of the highest importance based on soil loss as established
by the natural resource commission pursuant to section 456A.33A. The
financial incentives shall not exceed seventy-five percent of the
estimated cost of establishing the practices as determined by the
commissioners or seventy-five percent of the actual cost of
establishing the practices, whichever is less.
d. The allocation of cost-share moneys as financial
incentives to establish permanent grass and buffer zones, including
an erosion control structure or an erosion control practice to
mitigate the effects of concentrated runoff on surface water quality.
The financial incentives shall not exceed one hundred percent of the
estimated cost of establishing a zone, as determined by the
commissioners, or one hundred percent of the actual cost of
establishing the zone, whichever is less.
e. The allocation of cost-share moneys as financial
incentives for the same purposes that are supported from the soil and
water enhancement account of the resources enhancement and protection
fund as provided in section 455A.19, or by the water protection
practices account of the water protection fund established pursuant
to section 161C.4. The financial incentives shall not exceed fifty
percent of the estimated cost of establishing the practices, or fifty
percent of the actual cost, whichever is less.
2. The commissioners of a district may establish voluntary
financial incentive programs which shall provide for the following:
a. The allocation of cost-share moneys as financial
incentives under a special agreement with owners of land in the
district who promise to adopt a watershed conservation plan as
provided by rules which shall be adopted by the division. The
watershed conservation plan shall be in conjunction with the owners'
respective farm unit soil conservation plans. The funding agreement
must provide for the funding of a project which includes five or more
contiguous farm units which have at least five hundred acres of
agricultural land and which constitutes at least seventy-five percent
of the agricultural land located within a watershed or subwatershed.
The financial incentives shall not exceed sixty percent of the
estimated cost of the project as determined by the commissioners or
sixty percent of the actual cost, whichever is less.
b. The allocation of cost-share moneys as financial
incentives to encourage summer construction of permanent soil and
water conservation practices. The practices must be constructed on
or after June 1 but not later than September 15. The commissioners
may also provide for the payment of moneys on a prorated basis to
compensate persons for the production loss on an area disturbed by
construction, according to rules which shall be adopted by the
division. The commissioners shall not allocate cost-share moneys to
support summer construction during a fiscal year in which
applications for cost-share moneys required to establish permanent
soil and water conservation practices, other than established by
summer construction, equal the total amount available to support the
nonsummer construction practices. The financial incentives shall not
exceed sixty percent of the estimated cost of establishing the
practice as determined by the commissioners, or sixty percent of the
actual cost of establishing the practice, whichever is less.
3. a. The division may reimburse private landowners for a
portion of the cost of fencing materials and installation for
permanent fence used to protect forest land from domestic livestock
grazing, if the division determines that the grazing has caused
excessive soil loss. For purposes of this subsection, forests shall
be considered as agricultural land eligible for cost-share moneys.
The total expenditure of reimbursement moneys shall not exceed fifty
percent of the total landowner expenditures. Expenditures for
boundary and road fence construction and for repair and replacement
of existing fences are not eligible for reimbursement unless the
complete fence is replaced.
b. A landowner shall sign an agreement with the division as a
condition for receiving cost-share moneys. The agreement shall
provide that the landowner shall maintain the fence for a minimum of
ten years and shall follow written professional forester
recommendations relating to land protected by fencing. The
recommendations must be approved by the state forester or the
forester's designee.
c. A landowner who violates the maintenance agreement shall
maintain, repair, or reconstruct the damaged fence, or shall pay the
division an amount equal to the amount of cost- share moneys
reimbursed.
d. The division shall adopt rules to administer this
subsection, including rules relating to procedures required to
receive reimbursement, and eligibility requirements such as the
minimum forest acreage required, and the maximum reimbursement amount
allowed. Section History: Recent Form
92 Acts, ch 1184, § 8; 92 Acts, ch 1239, § 51, 52; 96 Acts, ch
1083, § 5; 98 Acts, ch 1040, §1
Referred to in § 161A.75