319 Watershed Project

Best Management Practices

Best Management Practices (BMP) are conservation practices that can be cost-shared in the highlighted areas on the map above through the Wild Rice Soil Conservation District, in cooperation with the North Dakota Health Department of Environmental Quality, 319 Watershed Program. Current focus areas in the county are the Crooked Creek and Shortfoot Creek watersheds along with a half mile corridor along each side of the Wild Rice River.

Some cropland and livestock BMP’s include Fencing, Trough and Tank, Water Spreading, Well, Pipeline, Filter Strip, Grassed Waterway, Riparian Buffer, Cover Crop, and many more.

If you are interested in one of these BMP's or have an idea of something new you might want to try stop at the office and visit with Kaylie Carver, or give her a call at 701-724-6226 Ext 3.

Riparian Restoration on the Wild Rice River

You don’t often think of Sargent County when you hear the phrase “Riparian Area”. It is important to remember that a riparian area is any land adjacent to a river or stream. Riparian areas in Sargent County consist of land next to the Wild Rice River and its tributaries. Through watershed planning at the local, state, and federal level; the Wild Rice Soil Conservation District has identified the Wild Rice River as well as Crooked and Shortfoot Creeks as impaired waterbodies to prioritize in our watershed project.

Riparian areas are critical for addressing water quality concerns. By nature, these areas can be tricky to manage. They are susceptible to seasonal flooding during spring runoff and high rainfall events. Silt deposited during peak flows also leads to a dissociated soil with little to no structure. This can lead to highly variable productivity when these areas are cropped.

The Wild Rice Soil Conservation District has partnered with multiple agencies to work with local landowners looking to plant cropland riparian areas back to permanent vegetation. This filters nutrients and sediment from runoff, stabilizes the streambank, and provides essential habitat to aquatic life. To offset the loss of production landowners do receive a rental rate compensation. The first agreements were funded through the district’s 319 program with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. We have also received funding for the Outdoor Heritage Fund for some of these agreements as well. Recently we have been working with the Save Our Lakes Program with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. The Wild Rice River was recently added to their list of waterbodies and their program is attractive enough where we have had several people enroll areas adjacent to the Wild Rice River. Local farmer Cam Gulleson of Gulleson Farm and Ranch had this to say about their experience enrolling acres in the Save Our Lakes program. “The Save Our Lakes Program does a great job stabilizing sensitive streambanks at risk of sloughing away. Plus, the added flexibility of being able to hay or graze after the grass is established made sense for our operation.”

If you have cropland adjacent to the Wild Rice River and would be interested in hearing more about the program, please contact Kaylie Carver at the Wild Rice Soil Conservation District (701) 724-6226 ext.3 or Scott Elstad with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department (701) 220-1036.