The Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watershed Initiative (MRBI) is accelerating voluntary, on-farm conservation investments and focused water quality monitoring and assessment resources in the Mississippi River watershed.
Known as “America’s River,” the Mississippi River is North America’s largest river, flowing over 2,300 miles through America’s heartland to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the centerpiece of the second largest watershed in the world. The watershed not only provides drinking water, food, industry, and recreation for millions of people, it also hosts a globally significant migratory flyway and home for over 325 bird species.
Through the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI), NRCS and partners work with producers and landowners to implement voluntary conservation practices that improve water quality, restore wetlands, enhance wildlife habitat and sustain agricultural profitability in the Mississippi River basin.
NRCS has identified the Mississippi River basin as a top priority due to water quality concerns, primarily related to the effects of nutrient loading on the health of local water bodies and, eventually, the Gulf of Mexico.
How Does MRBI Work?
The 13-state initiative builds on the cooperative work of NRCS and its conservation partners in the basin, and offers agricultural producers in priority watersheds the opportunity for voluntary technical and financial assistance.
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Accepting EQIP Applications through Dec 23, 2022, for Three Arkansas Water Quality Projects
LITTLE ROCK, November 21, 2022 – The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is investing in three new landscape-level water quality efforts for the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI).
“We have learned that when we work with producers and partner to install conservation practices within critical watersheds, we see a positive impact,” said NRCS State Conservationist in Arkansas Mike Sullivan. “Through these partnerships, we accelerate and maximize the delivery of our conservation efforts which yields greater results to water quality and benefits the public, our natural resources and farmers’ bottom lines.”
Arkansas has three new MRBI projects that will be receiving financial assistance dollars in fiscal year 2023. NRCS accepts program applications on a continuous basis but sets dates to batch and rank applications as funding allows. Farmers and landowners in Arkansas who submit applications to their local NRCS office by Dec, 23, 2022, will be considered for this round of funding. Applications received after Dec. 23, 2022, will be considered in later funding periods, subject to funding availability.
Arkansas’s project areas are:
MRBI
- North Big Creek-Strawberry River – Portions of Sharp and Izard counties
- West Craighead – Portions of Craighead, Jackson, Greene, and Lawrence
- Arkansas County Lower White – Portions of Arkansas county
NRCS has strengthened its focus on watershed assessment and partner engagement in selecting priority small watersheds in recent years. Partners are encouraged to work with Arkansas NRCS for new project area interests.
All applications will be evaluated for funding based on local, state and nationally developed criteria to optimize environmental benefits. Applications ranking highest in a funding category will be funded according to priority and is subject to availability of program funds.
MRBI in Arkansas
Arkansas has 17 MRBI projects. They are:
Cache
Cadron Creek-Brewer Lake
Lower St. Francis
Middle Cache
Upper Lower St. Francis
Candy Creek
Canal 43
Twin Creek
Izard Lower Strawberry
County Line Strawberry
Flat Hills
Glade-Raft-White Oak Creek
Lee County
Lower White-Bayou Des Arc
West Craighead
Big North Creek-Strawberry
Arkansas County Lower White
Previous Year Information (Archived)
- TBA
Program Contact
- Amanda Mathis, ASTC, Partnerships
(501) 301-3162 - Clyde Williams, ASTC Programs
(501) 301-3165
MRBI Success Stories
Learn more about the impact of MRBI through our success stories.
A Recipe for Success: Improving Water Quality in the Indian Creek Watershed
Voluntary conservation efforts focused in small watersheds can yield big results for locally important waters. See how NRCS, landowners, and partners are working together to improve water quality in Illinois.
Learn MoreStepping Up for a Cleaner Mississippi River
Meet Iowa's 2015 Soil Conservation Farmer of the Year Award recipient, Tim Smith, one of the many conservation farmers participating in a USDA program designed to reduce nutrient and sediment loading in the Mississippi River Basin.
Learn MoreReady to get started?
Contact your local service center to start your application.
How to Get Assistance
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
To get started with NRCS, we recommend you stop by your local NRCS field office. We’ll discuss your vision for your land.
NRCS provides landowners with free technical assistance, or advice, for their land. Common technical assistance includes: resource assessment, practice design and resource monitoring. Your conservation planner will help you determine if financial assistance is right for you.
We’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance, we’ll work with you:
- To fill out an AD 1026, which ensures a conservation plan is in place before lands with highly erodible soils are farmed. It also ensures that identified wetland areas are protected.
- To meet other eligibility certifications.
Once complete, we’ll work with you on the application, or CPA 1200.
Applications for most programs are accepted on a continuous basis, but they’re considered for funding in different ranking periods. Be sure to ask your local NRCS district conservationist about the deadline for the ranking period to ensure you turn in your application in time.
As part of the application process, we’ll check to see if you are eligible. To do this, you’ll need to bring:
- An official tax ID (Social Security number or an employer ID)
- A property deed or lease agreement to show you have control of the property; and
- A farm number.
If you don’t have a farm number, you can get one from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Typically, the local FSA office is located in the same building as the local NRCS office. You only need a farm number if you’re interested in financial assistance.
NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants. View Application Ranking Dates by State.
If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done.
Once you sign the contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications.