By Megan Roche
September 23, 2024
The Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District (CSWCD) has been educating the public on conservation and land protection efforts for years, with many grants available for citizens to create projects that help with erosion, stormwater runoff, and more.
CSWCD recently highlighted three of the opportunities that it offers: the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program, Turf Love, and Living Shorelines.
Virginia Conservation Assistance Program
The Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP) is one of CSWCD’s most popular programs, providing financial, technical, and educational assistance to property owners in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed by installing eligible stormwater control practices. These practices can be installed in areas of yards where problems like erosion, poor drainage, and poor vegetation occur.
“Everything we do is Chesapeake Bay focused. All of the practices that are paid for through VCAP are reported back to the Department of Environmental Quality to be put back into the Chesapeake Bay model. We try to tell folks when we meet with them that we’re thinking hyperlocally about what is going to work best for their property and the issues that they are experiencing, but always with the lens of what is going to be the best for the bay,” said CSWCD staff member Robyn Woolsey.
According to CSWCD, most practices are eligible for 75% financial reimbursement.
Some practices CSWCD has helped install include conservation landscaping, impervious surface removal, rain gardens, dry wells, rainwater harvesting, vegetated conveyance systems, constructed wetlands, bioretention, infiltration, permeable pavement, green roofs, and living shorelines.
The process of getting a project approved through the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program starts with a call to the Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District. From there, members of the team will coordinate a site visit where a design concept is formulated. Site plan approval will then go through the CSWCD board and VCAP board. After approval, installation takes place and after inspection by CSWCD staff, reimbursement is made to the homeowner.
“This program is totally voluntary, there is no arm twisting. We’re from an agency, we’re never going to twist your arm and say ‘you have to do this,’ that’s just not what we do. If you change your mind, it’s all good. You can change your mind up until the first payment is made and there are a lot of steps that lead up to that. You can sign the paperwork and still pull out and there is no penalty for pulling out if you need to,” shared Emma Rich, another CSWCD staff member.
Turf Love
Turf Love is a partnership project between CSWCD, James City County, the James City County/ Williamsburg Master Gardeners, and the James City Service Authority. The program aims to teach those in James City County about growing and maintaining a healthy lawn.
The Turf Love program begins with a home visit from a Virginia Cooperative Extension JCC/Williamsburg Master Gardener, known as a Lawn Ranger. The ranger will discuss conservation-based lawn care tips, including responsive irrigation management. During that visit, a soil sample will be taken and sent to the Virginia Tech Soil Testing Laboratory and a lawn measurement will be taken.
After the soil test comes back from Virginia Tech, a nutrient management plan specific to that individual homeowner is provided.
“The program is really geared towards education. We want to make sure that landowners who want to invest in their lawn and want to make sure they are maintaining their lawn in an environmentally sensitive manner have the tools and resources to do so,” Rich explained.
Living Shorelines
In an area surrounded by water, the Living Shorelines program helps residents with shoreline management practices. The program helps to provide erosion control and water quality benefits while protecting, restoring, or enhancing natural shoreline habitats and maintaining coastal processes through strategic placement of plants, stone, sand fill, and other materials.
Causes of shoreline erosion include boat wakes, undercutting, stormwater runoff, storm surges and tidal fluctuations. The CSWCD team that works on Living Shorelines has many options for residents to consider including sand fill, marsh grasses, oyster castles and oyster bags.
“These are all really methods of shoreline stabilization that are meant to help prevent shoreline erosion from happening,” Woolsey said. “It really at its most basic is a way that we can mimic the natural function of a marsh. When we install living shorelines, we are trying to recreate that marsh setting to try and prevent further shoreline erosion from happening. Through that, it helps to create a more protected environment.”
The team at CSWCD is eager to continue their efforts to protect shorelines and the Chesapeake Bay. They urge anyone with an interest to reach out and start a conversation.
“We are truly here to help folks who want to make some improvements to their property,” Woolsey said.
To learn more about any of the programs that CSWCD offers, visit the CSWCD website.
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