State Cost Share Program

Through the State Cost-Share Program, landowners or occupiers can request financial and technical assistance from the Steele SWCD to implement state-approved conservation practices. The program, which was originally approved by the Minnesota Legislature in 1977, provides up to 75 percent of the total eligible costs of a practice.

Grant funds are available annually to SWCDs at the beginning of the states fiscal year. In order for SWCDs to receive these grants, they must have on file at BWSR an approved annual plan of work, an annual report, and a comprehensive plan or a resolution to adopt the Steele county comprehensive local water management plan. The projects are selected by local SWCDs that identify high priority erosion and water quality problems.

Eligible Projects:

The following Conservation Practices have been approved by the Steele SWCD: 

Critical Area Stabilization Diversions Field Windbreaks Shelterbelts Grassed Waterway Wastewater and Feedlot Runoff Control Filter Strips Sediment Basins Streambank, Shoreland, and Roadside Protection Stripcropping Terraces Unused Well Sealing

Approved construction practices include activities that control nutrient runoff; stabilize critical eroding areas; divert runoff to protect and improve water quality; reduce wind erosion; control gully, rill, or sheet erosion; protect shore land from erosion; control storm water runoff; or protect surface water and ground water quality.