Definition
A grassed waterway is a broad, shallow, swale-shaped channel with adjacent buffer strips protected by grass, legumes or other vegetation. These waterways are designed to carry surface run-off across agricultural land with minimal soil erosion.
Program Objectives
- To prevent soil erosion in cultivated soils
- To protect surface water quality
- To provide wildlife habitat
- To produce forages for harvest; can provide recompense the grassed channel establishment costs
- To prevent channel erosion and soil erosion on adjacent lands
Eligibility
Waterway must
- Be within the Lake of the Prairies Conservation District
- Be an on-farm runway
- Be able to be maintained as a grassed waterway without altering its course or flow
- Require stabilization to prevent channel erosion or erosion to adjacent agricultural land
Terms and Conditions
Applicant Responsibility
- Complete project by August 31 in year of application. Circumstances preventing project completion by August 31st must be reported to Lake of the Prairies Conservation District.
- LPCD may offer to extend funding until October 31st, based on landowner circumstances.
- Request assistance by attached application, which is to be received at the LPCD office;
- Provide consent of entry including any agreed upon or special conditions;
- Provide sufficient room for construction;
- Seed a companion crop on land adjacent to the grassed waterway, if recommended by the Board;
- Remove all brush piles, stones and other debris after construction as designated by the LPCD;
- Mow or swath the waterway at least once a year prior to freeze;
- Shall not break pasture, burn, use as a roadway, cultivate parallel to or in any way cause or permit to be caused damage to the grassed waterway for a minimum of 4 years; and
- Replace at 25% cost if damage to the grassed waterway is the result of the neglect of any of the preceding.
