A soil- and water-improvement project teaming farmers, ranchers and landowners in South Dakota with federal conservation specialists is now accepting applications for financial assistance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced (USDA) recently.

Conservation Implementation Strategy (CIS) Project Clear Lake and Hidewood Creek Water Quality Project, which "will soon be underway" in Deuel and Hamlin counties, is intended to improve soil and water quality in the Clear Lake and Hidewood Creek Watershed, according to the Jan. 4 announcement. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservationists are coordinating similar projects throughout the state, the USDA reports.

"The purpose of this project is to improve water quality and will be implemented by the NRCS in collaboration with farmers, ranchers, and landowners," the NRCS states in the announcement. "Those within the project area are eligible to apply for financial assistance. While applications are accepted year-round, the batching date for applications is February 3, 2023."

CIS projects can produce "impressive returns" by focusing expertise and resources on areas with the most pressing resource concerns, according to the report. In the Clear Lake-Hidewood Creek project, "sponsors identified livestock water and soil erosion as resource concerns and developed this CIS project to address the situation," the report states.

“Improving water quality within the Clear Lake and Hidewood Creek Watershed will have a lasting benefit for Deuel and Hamlin counties,” Amy Engels, district conservationist in Clear Lake, said the report.

The project, one of 12 selected in Fiscal Year 2023, is funded through NRCS conservation programs in the 2018 Farm Bill, the announcement states.