Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts
2016 General Assembly Legislative Agenda as
Approved by the VASWCD Membership on December 8, 2015
State Issues
1. Increase operating funds for the 47 districts. This includes funding for district administrative
and technical staff to address on-going, technical assistance requests such as those for dam safety,
stream bank stabilization, soil inventories, ponds, assistance to non-agricultural property owners,
etc., resource management plans, and to meet identified needs for district operations. The
Districts Needs Assessment was $8,478,600 for FY 2017 and $8,732,900 for FY 2018. The base
funding for FY 2016 was $6,841,090 supporting an increase of $1,637,460 for FY 2017 and
$1,891,910 for FY 2018.
2. Support increasing the financial and staff resources necessary to meet State TMDL
Program goals in the Chesapeake Bay & Southern Rivers Watersheds.
 Fund Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost Share Program for FY2017 at
$84,338,100 & FY 2018 at $85,572,900 in accordance with the Agriculture Needs
Assessment Report.
 Provide additional agricultural technical assistance funding to districts for FY 2017 at
$10,409,700 & FY 2018 at $13,578,100 to implement the cost share program at the funding
levels in the Agriculture Needs Assessment Report.
3. Support Conflict of Interest legislation to clarify who is eligible to participate in the cost
share program for agricultural best management practices. A question has been raised
concerning if there is a conflict of interest for soil and water conservation district directors to
participate in the Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost Share Program. Agricultural
producers who serve without compensation on the 47 local districts are expected to be leaders in
the conservation of soil and water resources and should be eligible to participate in the cost share
program which produces no profit for the participant.
4. Support, with initial funding of $500,000 the establishment of a statewide Virginia Urban
Retrofit Best Management Practices Cost Share and Tax Credit Program with the
Department of Environmental Quality. The program would complement the Agricultural BMP
Cost Share Program. SWCDs, with appropriately qualified, trained and experienced staff, are
well-positioned and capable of implementing and administering a voluntary urban BMP cost
share and tax credit program for private commercial and residential landowners. The Urban
Program would be carried out in a manner similar to the Agricultural BMP program. The
program, currently implemented as a temporary, grant-funded pilot program within five SWCDs,
includes an array of BMPs, including low impact development practices. Virginia’s Phase II
Watershed Implementation Plan recognizes a need for urban/residential BMPs in its “Local
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Implementation Strategies for Urban/Suburban Source Sector”, including a cost share program
strategy.
5. Small Dam Repair. Support funding for the Small Dam Repair Fund for repairs to 104 aging
dams owned and operated by Virginia’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Requested is
$500,000 per year for two years. The current level of funding is $150,000 per year so this
represents an increase of $350,000 supported by existing requests from districts.
6. Dam Rehabilitation. Twelve SWCDs in Virginia own and operate 104 small watershed dams.
Necessary financial resources assist conservation districts in meeting state requirements and
providing for public safety and flood control. A preliminary study shows that 45 of these dams do
not meet Virginia Dam Safety Regulations. Some of these dams are currently in the process for
rehabilitation by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the USDA-Natural
Resources Conservation Service. Federal funding is very limited and not timely. As local
sponsors of these federally funded projects without the means to levy funding themselves,
Districts need adequate state support of staff with dam expertise and construction funding.
Districts support the development of a state program to rehabilitate the remaining 45 dams
over the next 20 years at a cost of at least $170 million. An immediate need is funding for 3
dams with rehabilitation plans nearing completion by the USDA, Natural Resources
Conservation Service to provide the 35% match for the 65% federal funding to complete
these projects. One project is located in Augusta County ($800,000) and the other two are
in Culpeper County ($2,943,490).
7. Dam Safety and Flood Plain Management. The Dam Safety and Flood Plain Management
Program in the Department of Conservation and Recreation is an essential public safety program
that is currently understaffed and underfunded. The program monitors the safety of dams
throughout the Commonwealth included engineering support to soil and water conservation
districts that operate and maintain 104 flood control dams. The VASWCD supports
rebenchmarking the program with additional funding support of $637,160 per year for
engineering and business management.
8. Engineering, Training, IT Support & RMP Development. Additional engineering support to
implement the Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost Share Program requires 4 additional
field engineers (above the FY16 level) at a start-up cost of $500,000 per year. The USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service does not have engineering resources to meet the
demands of an accelerated state cost share program. Training for Certification of district
employees and Information Technology program support needs are $275,000 per year. Resource
Management Plan development needs are $250,000 per year.
9. Support additional financial resources for streambank and shoreline erosion control to
reduce harmful impacts to the waters of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay, to aid in meeting the
mandated nutrient and sediment reduction goals for the Bay TMDL, and to provide citizens of the
Commonwealth with science-based streambank and shoreline erosion reduction techniques.
Funding for the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Shoreline Erosion Advisory
Service (SEAS) program requires an additional annual level of $50,000 for the second full time
DCR SEAS employee.
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