Drought and Wildfire Watering Strategy
County or Counties: Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wheeler
Primary Resource Concern Addressed:
- Livestock production limitation - Inadequate livestock water quantity, quality and distribution
- Degraded plant condition - Plant structure and composition
Project Description
The goal of this project is to increase the availability of livestock water on private and tribal grazing lands in the John Day, Umatilla, and Snake River basins of Eastern Oregon. Reliable water developments will be used to improve management and increase flexibility in grazing systems. Preference will be granted to projects that provide adequate quantities of water in strategic locations to support fire management.
Conservation Practices Offered
- Critical Area Planting (342)
- Fence (382)
- Livestock Pipeline (516)
- Prescribed Grazing (528)
- Pumping Plant (533)
- Spring Development (574)
- Watering Facility (614)
- Water Well (642)
- Structure for Water Control (587)
Project Partners
- SWCDs
- NRCS Oregon
- Private landowners
Application Questions
NRCS uses prioritization questions to evaluate applications for this initiative. See the list of workload prioritization questions on the Oregon EQIP page. Ranking questions below will also apply.
Ranking Questions
- Does the planned system provide reliable vehicle access to 10ft from water’s edge? The landowner must agree to allow access to fire management personnel and add the site to local fire management maps.
- Is/are the planned watering location(s) more than 0.5 mile from an existing livestock water source in the same pasture that is accessible to livestock?
- Does a portion of the assessed PLU lie within a US Drought Monitor category at the time of ranking?
- Does the applicant currently follow a grazing plan that meets the standards and specifications for NRCS 528 prescribed grazing, or does the contract include 528 prescribed grazing?
- Will the designed system provide livestock water to 3 or more pastures?