The America’s Clean Water Foundation (ACWF) is a not-for-profit organization located in Washington, D.C. ACWF was created in 1989 to serve as a forum for citizen outreach, youth education and technical program exchange. The Foundation has several current projects that include:

• State/Federal TMDL Liaison Project
• On-Farm Environmental Assessment and Review (OFEAR) Project

The Source Water Protection Initiative (SWPI) project is designed to demonstrate the impact that implementation of scientifically sound Best Management Practice (BMPs) on a watershed basis will have on the amount of pesticides entering surface waters. The project will focus on surface waters used as raw water sources for public drinking water supply systems. The SWPI project will work with producers in three watersheds using voluntary methods including education, technical assistance and financial assistance for BMP adoption. The SWPI project will objectively monitor and evaluate program results using solid science and report those results to the general public.

The SWPI project Steering Committee provides America’s Clean Water Foundation guidance to ensure that the project is pursuing goals in a scientifically sound manner; and, to facilitate access to other organizations at the National, State and local level to help secure support and cooperation.

The main sponsors of the SWPI project are the American Water Works Association and the American Crop Protection Association.

The SWPI Steering Committee selected three watersheds in late July to initiate the process partnering for the SWPI project. The three selected watersheds are:

• Hoover Reservoir in Columbus, Ohio
• St. Joseph River in Fort Wayne, Indiana
• Mark Twain Reservoir in Northwest, Missouri

Staffing for marketing, planning and installation of conservation practices for the project will come directly from the Local Watersheds Steering Committee. ACWF plans to contribute funding to the Watersheds Steering Committee for personnel to implement accelerated BMP installation. ACWF envisions that there should be a maximum of 45 landowners/farmers in the paired watersheds, combined.

BMP installation should also be within the field office’s current approval authority, it is expected that 75% of the BMPs to be installed will be buffers, grassed waterways, and other vegetative practices. Planning and monitoring the watershed should also be handled at the field office level.

Funding- In October 2000 ACWF will seek funding for the SWPI project from EPA National 319 grant, foundation grants, and USGS funding. ACWF does not expect NRCS to contribute additional funding to the watersheds via EQIP. ACWF will use EQIP funds if they are made available through the State led process of allocating funds. As of yet, there has been no financial commitment for the SWPI project. If funding is not secured the project goals may be endangered and reduced in scale.

Project Schedule - The SWPI project is on schedule toward developing a Contract of Agreement with the Watershed Steering Committees. This contract is currently in draft form and on schedule to be reviewed by the Watershed Steering Committee in early October 2000. The total project time line for SWPI is 5 years.

Watershed Pairing – The SWPI Technical Work Group will set the criteria for selecting the sub watershed, but will leave the majority of the selection process to the Watershed Steering Committee with technical guidance from ACWF. Local citizens, having a greater knowledge of the watersheds, will identify several sub watersheds for the study. Sub watersheds should be approximately 6,000 to 9,000 acres in size.

Missouri Department
of Natural Resources

Missouri Watershed Information Network (MoWIN)
Send comments to: mowin1@missouri.edu
205 Agricultural Engineering
Columbia, MO 65211
Phone: (573) 882-0085
Toll Free: (MO only): 1-877-H20-shed (426-7433)
Fax: (573) 884-5650

Page last updated August 26, 2008