CAFO

Section 319 Nonpoint Source Livestock Projects

Milkhouse Waste Project Underway

The Blackhawk Hills Resource Conservation and Development Area (RC&D) is the fiscal agent for a grant received from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to address milkhouse waste issues at dairies in the six counties that make up the RC&D area. The RC&D received $100,000 to distribute to dairy operators on a first come, first serve basis. Funding for this project is provided, in part, by the IEPA through Section 319 of the Clean Water Act.

Cost share for the project is eighty percent, not to exceed $10,000 per producer. The cost share can be used to purchase and installl a tank and pump or to buy a honey wagon. Funds can also be used to cover engineering costs for the project. For more information on this project, contact Dave Dornbusch, RC&D Coordinator, at (815) 625-3854.

Clinton County EPA 319

Southwestern Illinois Resource Conservation and Development Area (SWIRCD) administers this grant under EPA 319 guidelines. The SWIRCD also has developed an animal waste guidebook that is funded with UDSA-NRCS EQIP education funding. It is anticipated that the grant work will dovetail with ongoing research regarding the efficacy of various landscape treatment in addressing such problems. The funds will be utilized to plan a variety of both traditional and innovative non-traditional systems to maximize both the range of options for producers and experimental designs for researchers in livestock waste treatment.

Lake Branch is a secondary tributary of the Kaskaskia River that drains 14,145 acres in southwestern Illinois. Land use in the watershed is predominantly agriculture with numerous livestock operations including dairy and beef cattle, swine and poultry. A 1991 survey identified a general inadequacy by livestock facilites in treatment of waste products, with about two-thirds of them rated as "Poor" or "Fair" in their waste management and subsequent potential for water pollution. These conditions are reflected in recent assessments of Lake Branch's water quality.

Since the time of this report, livestock production has declined in Clinton County with a 25% drop in number of dairy producers between 1993 and 2000. One of the main reasons cited for this decline has been the high compliance cost associated with livestock waste regulations.