Water Quality

Oklahoma Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

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What

The Oklahoma Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is a $20.6 million cooperative conservation partnership agreement between USDA and Oklahoma. The program pays elibible landowners in eligible watersheds to establish areas of riparian buffers along streams, removing those strips of land from agricultural production for 15 years. Focused in northeast Oklahoma, CREP will create 500 acres of vegetative filter strips and 8,500 acres of riparian buffers for a total of 9,000 acres (or 370 miles) of protected streams.

Why

Riparian buffers filter out up to 90 percent of pollutants flowing over the land before they reach the stream. The vegetated areas reduce the flow of nutrients, sediment and other pollutants, stabilize stream banks, and shade stream channels, resulting in improved drinking water and aquatic habitat.

How

A zone of trees and other woody plants is allowed to grow along streams with an unmowed grass/forb zone growing between the trees and fields. Alternate water sources are supplied for cattle that are denied access to streams.

Where

Currently, eligible areas for Oklahoma CREP include parts of Adair, Cherokee, Delaware, Mayes and Sequoyah counties in the Spavinaw Lake and Illinois River/Lake Tenkiller watesheds in Northeast Oklahoma.

Who

The OCC, collaborating with local conservation districts, identifies eligible landowners with appropriate land for enrollment in the program. The state then provides payments to participants and pays a minimum of 20 percent of the overall costs of installing filter strips and riparian fencing. This includes payments for fencing and related costs for non-Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage. The OCC is the state agency that oversees implementation of the program. OCC also provides staffing for the program, and coordinates with other natural resource conservation programs at the local, state and federal levels. The state is providing $4.1 million in cash and in-kind services for Oklahoma CREP.

Landowners participating in the program will receive annual rental payments, financial and technical assistance and other incentives for voluntarily enrolling land into contracts. Eligible landowners will receive a one-time Practice Incentive Payment and a one-time Signing Incentive Payment.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) dollars will pay 50 percent of the reimbursable costs of establishing eligible practices, conducting compliance reviews, and providing technical assistance and other services up to $16.5 million for Oklahoma CREP.

The Farm Services Administration (FSA) will administer Oklahoma CREP, with support from state CREP partners.

When

USDA will announce sign-up for Oklahoma CREP at a future date. USDA will accept offers for contracts under this CREP on a first-come/first-served basis until the 9,000-acre goal is achieved or until Dec. 31, 2007, whichever comes first. More information about the program can be found in the Oklahoma CREP fact sheet posted online at http://www.fsa.usda.gov; click on Find FSA Fact Sheets.

For more information about Oklahoma CREP, contact Gina Levesque, Oklahoma CREP Coordinator, at 918-456-1919.