Baraboo River Watershed Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)

Phase I

RCPP promotes coordination between USDA-NRCS and its partners to deliver conservation assistance to producers and landowners.  USDA-NRCS provides assistance to producers through partnership agreements and through program contracts or easement agreements.

In 2015, the Sauk County Land Resource and Environment Department was successful in obtaining $1 million through the RCPP.  The Baraboo River Watershed is approximately 420,000 acres in size and includes portions of Richland, Vernon, Monroe, Juneau, Sauk and Columbia Counties. USDA-NRCS and partners are collaborating to provide technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers and forest landowners to help implement conservation practices that improve soil health, water quality, restore wildlife habitat, and will also improve agricultural productivity.  Common conservation practices include streambank stabilization, cover crops, nutrient management, and grassed waterways.  The project will run five years and will provide over $2 million in public-private conservation investments to the Baraboo River Watershed.  As of December 2017, all funding had been exhausted, two years earlier than anticipated.

(See project area map of Phase I below.)

Phase II

In 2017, the Sauk County Land Resource and Environment Department was successful in obtaining an additional $1 million to continue the Baraboo River Watershed RCPP project.  Partners include USDA-NRCS, Juneau County Land Conservation Department, and the City of Reedsburg wastewater treatment facility.  The project will focus on portions of the watershed in Sauk and Juneau Counties.

(See project area map of Phase II below.)