N RANCHING
atural Resources
are more minor, we provide 90 percent of the cost. The small match is required so there’s some local buy in. Then we also do some major repairs. Since 2010, we’ve fi xed 18 or 20 dams. Several of them were very large projects in the $1 million range. We have currently received $7.4 million a year for the projects,” he says. Few urban residents know about the work local
landowners and the TSSCWB are doing to repair and maintain the dams out in the country. “While these structures are old, they are still doing
their job,” Foster says. “We can get things done with the help of local soil and water conservation district directors that no other government agency could ever accomplish. Because of the way the system is set up, our state board is comprised of people who are no dif- ferent than those on the local district board. That’s who is running this whole state agency. We’re a state agency directly tied to the local entities that are led by board members who are elected by landowners, so we can fl ow money and assistance down through them and have it be accepted and respected.”
Isom concurs, saying, “We rely on the grassroots
approach, on the locally elected board members who are involved in agriculture, to guide decisions on projects. They are so in touch that most of their deci- sions are going to be right on target. The locally-led approach lends so much credibility to this agency. It allows the whole program to work for really very few dollars. Most of our dollars are sent out to producers in the form of matching funds or grants. We don’t have a large staff considering the dollars that go out through the delivery system,” he says. “Our local 5 member-led boards are in nearly
every county, serving and volunteering their time. They help through that system to move dollars out to producers.” If you would like to learn more about the diverse
conservation work supported by the TSSWCB, visit
www.tsswcb.texas.gov. To learn about serving on a local soil and water conservation district board, con- tact Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, P.O. Box 658, Temple, Texas 76503, 800-792-3485.
Castleman Creek Watershed, McLennan County, Texas
In the 1960s, the USDA Soil Conservation Service, now the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), assisted local watershed project sponsors in development of the Castleman Creek Watershed Plan, to address the problems of fl ooding, erosion and sedimentation in the watershed. The Watershed Plan was authorized for federal funding in 1964. Six fl oodwater-retarding dams and other land treatment measures were installed from 1970 to 1975. This project provides $650,000 in average annual benefi ts. Local watershed sponsors (Castleman Creek Watershed Association, McLennan County Commissioners Court, and McLennan County Soil and Water Conservation District) were responsible for obtaining the land rights to install the dams, and to allow access to perform operation and maintenance activities on the dams after construction was completed. Typical operation and maintenance activities include control of animal grazing, management of the vegetation for erosion control, brush removal from the dam and spillway, fence repair, and debris removal after major storms. Even though the sponsors have been performing required maintenance on the dams for the past 44 years, other problems developed which required major repair to 3 of the dams. Castleman Creek Dam Nos. 1 and 3 were repaired in 2013, with funding provided by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and local sponsors and engineering assistance provided by NRCS. Repairs consisted mainly of rock riprap armored plating of the upstream slope of the dam to prevent wave erosion, and lime treatment of the embankment earth fi ll to prevent slope slides.
58 The Cattleman December 2014
Castleman Creek 2009
Castleman Creek 2011
Castleman Creek 2012
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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