The South St. Louis SWCD provides technical and financial assistance to land occupiers as incentives to help protect water quality in our area’s lakes and rivers. We have several sources of financial assistance available, and the technical capabilities to support these programs.
We offer many services directly from our office, providing free site visits and engineering for projects. We also partner with area agencies, and will help you find programs offered through them.
Cost-Share Funding may be available for eligible projects through our office. The SWCD Board of Supervisors approves all cost-share applications, with the property owner often contributing only 25% of the cost, sometimes as in-kind labor. Call us, at (218) 723-4867.
Well-sealing is also provided using our cost-share program, but landowners must contribute a minimum of 50% of the cost of the practice, with the District funding the remaining 50%. You can read more about well-sealing and other groundwater issues here: Well Sealing (Groundwater Program)
We can also help you get in touch with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, a federal agency that can offer greater technical and financial assistance than the District under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Although it involves more planning (and more paperwork), NRCS funds a broader array of projects from irrigation to wildlife habitat under this program: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/eqip/
Potential cost-share projects include activities such as:
• Critical Area / Bank Stabilization
• Riparian & Lakeshore Buffer Strips
• Water Control Structures
• Streambank Restoration
• Rain Gardens & Other Stormwater Projects
• Native Tree & Shrub Planting
• Animal Waste Management Systems
Additional Resources
Learn more about our Conservation Engineers who help plan and oversee projects throughout this region.