Since 2018, the Illinois EPA has provided financial support to University of Illinois Extension for two watershed outreach associate positions. The work conducted under this grant supports the Illinois NLRS through the development and delivery of education, outreach, and technical assistance focused on four priority watershed basins (Figure 4.27). These watersheds were identified as priorities in the original NLRS report in 2015. The four targeted watersheds are expected to have the greatest capacity to reduce high volumes of nutrient losses on an annual basis.
Watershed outreach associate Rachel Curry works in the Mississippi North Central/Flint-Henderson Creek and Lower Rock River nitrogen-priority watersheds in northern Illinois. She started in November 2020 and works out of the Illinois Extension office in Galva. Curry has continued to collaborate with the Illinois Farm Bureau and County Farm Bureaus, Northwater Consulting, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and USDA-NRCS to create a watershed characterization, which is a water and habitat assessment, and to prioritize subwatershed planning efforts. The Mercer County SWCD submitted a Section 319 grant application to Illinois EPA in 2020 that was awarded in May 2022. To date, stakeholder input has been gathered at seven stakeholder meetings and a meeting with SWCD and NRCS employees from the counties within the watershed. Curry has also continued to support and collaborate with the Rock Island SWCD and stakeholders within the Mill Creek watershed on a Section 604(b) grant through Illinois EPA to develop a watershed management plan. The plan has been submitted for approval and discussions about an implementation grant application are ongoing.
Watershed outreach associate Nicole Haverback focuses on the Little Wabash River and Embarras River watersheds, both phosphorus-priority watersheds in south-central Illinois. She started in July 2022 and works out of the Illinois Extension office in Effingham. Jennifer Jones previously held this position until December 2021, and the position was vacant January to June 2022.
During her time with Illinois Extension, Jones laid significant groundwork by fostering working relationships and leading watershed planning efforts with SWCDs, IFB, and other stakeholders. She co-led an ongoing collaborative effort among SWCDs, Illinois Farm Bureau, IFB, Northwater Consulting, and County Farm Bureaus to update the Embarras Watershed Management Plan. The update began in January 2021 and prioritized two HUC 12 sub-watersheds: Polecat Creek in Coles and Edgar counties; and the Slough in Crawford, Lawrence, and Richland counties. The Embarras Watershed Management Plan and the subwatershed plans were submitted to the Illinois EPA and approved in December 2022.
Starting in the spring of 2021, the watershed outreach associates continued a unique collaboration with a University of Illinois professor of urban and regional planning and an Illinois Extension community and economic development specialist. Curry worked with the professor’s watershed planning class to create a watershed characterization for the Cedar Creek watershed, a subwatershed of the Flint-Henderson watershed. Over the summer, a graduate student continued to develop the characterization. That fall, Curry worked with a new class to create a watershed characterization for the Pine Creek watershed, a subwatershed of the Lower Rock River watershed. Planning efforts are ongoing in the Pine Creek watershed.
Curry has been working with Whiteside County SWCD in the Lower Rock River watershed on a cover crop program funded through grant support secured by Laura Christianson and Reid Christianson. Since its inception in 2020, the program has provided enough free seed for Whiteside County farmers to plant almost 1,900 acres into cover crops and provided an estimated nitrogen loss reduction of more than 9,600 pounds and phosphorus loss reduction of more than 500 pounds. The grant also provided funds to install a woodchip bioreactor in Rock Island County in the Lower Rock River watershed in the fall of 2021 in conjunction with the Rock Island SWCD. It is estimated that this bioreactor will reduce nitrogen loss by 240 pounds annually for the next 10 years.
The Embarras Grazing Partnership formed in 2020 by the Champaign County SWCD, The Land Connection, Illinois Extension, Terra Elossa LLC, Illinois Soybean Association, and the Pasture Project to provide education and resources to increase regenerative grazing practices in and near the Embarras River watershed. The group has produced educational materials and shared the benefits of regenerative grazing through field days, online training sessions, and online informal discussions with grazers, farmers, landowners, educators, and stakeholders.
Watershed outreach associates also regularly create and deliver NLRS-related educational content to youth and adults, especially focusing on conservation practices farmers can adopt to reduce nutrient loss. They co-produce the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Podcast which launched in 2018 in collaboration with Todd Gleason, Illinois Extension media communications specialist. Podcast episodes explore a variety of topics from conservation practices and NLRS Biennial Report updates to carbon market information and the cover crop decision tool. Guests, including researchers, Illinois Extension educators, agricultural professionals, government employees, and farmers, discuss how and why to implement conservation practices as well as associated challenges and successes. As of March 2023, the podcast series released 48 episodes with more than 10,000 downloads. The podcast is available at go.illinois.edu/NLRSPodcast along with a supplemental blog launched in December 2022, available at go.illinois.edu/NLRS_blog.
Watershed outreach associates are also engaging with the public by contributing to annual trainings, such as the Certified Livestock Manager Training. Associates provided an update on the NLRS to training participants in 2021 and 2022, and they continue to provide educational opportunities related to the NLRS for others, based on the most current information and research coming from University of Illinois and other partners around the state.
The watershed outreach associates also educate the public through virtual learning opportunities. Jones collaborated with Stacy Zuber, Illinois NRCS state soil health specialist, to create the three-part video series “Soil Health Check Up.” The videos include information on at-home soil health tests that farmers, landowners, and homeowners can use to visually assess the health of their soils using household items. The videos have been viewed 2,429 times and are available on Illinois Extension’s YouTube account in the Soil Health Check Up playlist at https://youtube.com/@UIExtension/playlists. Jones and Curry also delivered a webinar on NLRS-supported edge-of-field practices through the Illinois Extension Everyday Environment series that has 410 views and is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXLbQJWiHsk. Alongside Extension staff Eliana Brown and Layne Knoche, Curry also provided an overview of the 2021 NLRS Biennial Report, available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pKA7jxniFY.
