Technical Resources

Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act

Updated 1/29/2010

The Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977, as amended (RCA) provides the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) broad strategic assessment and planning authority for the conservation, protection, and enhancement of soil, water, and related natural resources. Through RCA, USDA:

appraises the status and trends of soil, water, and related resources on non-Federal land and assesses their capability to meet present and future demands;
evaluates current and needed programs, policies, and authorities; and
develops a national soil and water conservation program to give direction to USDA soil and water conservation activities.

In January 2011, the National Appraisal will be delivered to Congress.

These documents require Adobe Acrobat:

RCA legislative authority (PDF; 18 KB)
RCA information sheet (PDF; 80 KB)
RCA Federal Register notices (PDF; 44 KB)
Secretary's Memorandum (PDF; 11 KB)

This document requires audio support:

Wayne Maresch, Deputy Chief for Soil Survey and Resource Assessment, interviewed by North Dakota public radio (MP3; 2.6 MB)

Public Meetings

Meeting location	Date	Time	Co-host
Ramkota Hotel, 800 S. Third Street, Bismarck, North Dakota 58504-5728.	June 15	10:30-12:30	National Association of Conservation Districts-Northern Plains Regional Meeting.
Albuquerque Convention Center, 401 Second Street, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87012.	June 15	2:30-4:30	National Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils-National Conference.
Holiday Inn Select, 155 Holiday Drive, Solomons, Maryland 20688.	July 27	1:45-3:30	National Association of Conservation Districts-Northeast Regional Meeting.
Charleston Marriott Town Center, 200 Lee Street East, Charleston, West Virginia 25301.	September 14	10:30-12:30	National Association of Conservation Agencies- Annual Meeting.

Written comments may be submitted at the meetings or by any of the following methods:

Mail: USDA/NRCS, Attn. RCA, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC, 20013
E-Mail: RCA@wdc.usda.gov

RCA Related Publications

A Resource Conservation Act Report: Interim Appraisal and Analysis of Conservation Alternatives (published September, 2002)
America's Private Land, A Geography of Hope (published December, 1996)

Conservation Effects Assessment Project Product Library (2003 to present)
National Resources Inventory Analysis Publications (1996 - 2003)
RCA Publication Archive (1995-1996)

For more information about RCA, contact: (202) 690-0467.