Why We're Here

A Joint Effort to Reduce Pollution

Water bodies within South Dakota are faced with varying degrees and forms of water pollution. The watershed project's focus is on runoff water--water that travels through agricultural land, picking up phosphates, animal waste and eroded soil--eventually depositing the material in our rivers, lakes and streams.

Because the risk of damage from these pollutants can be dramatically reduced through the application of proper land management practices, SDACD, the state of South Dakota and the federal government have joined hands in the creation of South Dakota's Watershed Planning and Assistance Project.

What We Do

Risk Reduction Through Land Management

The project's goal is to reduce the risk of damage from water pollution in 25 of South Dakota's watersheds. We are accomplishing this by contacting and assisting selected landowners with the development of proper land management practices. The practices are designed to improve the landowner's operation while reducing the potential for water pollution.

Participation in the project is voluntary. The project's resource management specialists work with the landowner to build a land management plan that is both acceptable and advantageous to the landowner.

The project is also engaged in public information efforts and activity coordination with related agencies.

Available Assistance

For details regarding the type of assistance that is available, please see the Technical Assistance and Financial Assistance sections.

The project's formal plan can be reviewed in its entirety by clicking
here: Watershed Planning and Assistance Project Plan. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the plan.