More than $20 million will be pumped into two northeastern Oklahoma watersheds in an effort to reduce the impact of nonpoint source pollutants.

The funding will be made available through a number of state and local partnerships along with matching dollars provided through a couple of federal programs.

The programs, officials say, are designed to promote best management practices along environmentally sensitive streams, rivers and lakes. The programs were extended in response to good results and reception by landowners within the Illinois River and Spavinaw-Eucha watersheds.

“Over the last four years we have seen an increased effort on the behalf of our policy makers in Oklahoma City and at the local level to find funds to help landowners address nonpoint water quality issues through voluntary, locally led means,” said Scotty Herriman, president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts. “Working together we are making a difference in protecting our water — we have much more to do, but this investment shows we are moving in the right direction.”

Herriman said more than 200 local landowners have implemented best management practices through the programs. Those practices include riparian buffer restoration of land adjacent to streams, proper pasture management, better management of poultry litter and other animal wastes, and septic tank repair.

By taking these and other actions, Herriman said, landowners have been able to help reduce the amount of phosphorus entering northeastern Oklahoma streams and lakes by more than 30 percent during the past five years.

Ed Fite, Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission administrator, said the agency’s efforts to recruit property owners willing to set aside land for riparian buffers alongside the Illinois River have proven quite successful.

Commissioners secured 17 agreements in 2007 from property owners who have set aside 416 acres for riparian buffer zones. Fite said that is the equivalent of about two miles of river bank that will be protected for the next 30 years.

Fite said scenic river commissioners will consider another 17 applications tonight, when they convene a special business meeting. The applicants, Fite said, are offering to set aside another 510 acres as riparian buffer zones.

Under the Scenic Rivers Commission’s riparian programs, landowners are compensated for acreage that is removed from agricultural production and future development. For every dollar OSRC spends for riparian protection leases, Fite said, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission receives four federal dollars through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.

Reach D.E. Smoot at 918-684-2903 or Click Here to Send Email