Photograph by Joe Mac Hudspeth, Jr. · www.southernfocus.com
What We Do
Major Projects
Page 2 of 3 pages Previous Page Next Page
Monsanto Mississippi River Partnership Project
Delta Wildlife’s Role
Wetlands treatment areas like this one in Holmes County can be used to reduce nutrient runoff from adjacent farmland and provide significant waterfowl habitat during the winter months.
The Monsanto Mississippi River Partnership Project will reduce nutrients and sediment from agricultural runoff throughout the Mississippi River Basin. The Nature Conservancy and Iowa Soybean Association will be focusing their efforts in several large watersheds in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Audubon will focus its efforts in urban areas. Delta Wildlife will lead efforts in the Lower Mississippi River Basin, specifically, the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta region.
Over the next three years, Delta Wildlife will work with cooperating landowners and producers in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta to install and manage 1,000 water control structures to improve water quality and enhance migratory waterfowl habitat. Oversight by Delta Wildlife will include recruitment of participating landowners and producers, development and management of cooperative agreements, identification of potential sites and providing technical assistance in the form of design, fabrication and installation of water control structures.
The Delta Wildlife staff will schedule site visits with interested landowners and producers to identify potential project sites (only Delta Wildlife Members may participate). Any site that drains cropland and can be treated with a water control structure to reduce nutrient run-off and improve wildlife habitat will be considered. Once all sites are identified on a property, the staff will develop an implementation plan for each individual site that will include a materials list, installation instructions, and maintenance instructions. Every plan/site will then be ranked according to environmental benefits. Water control structures specified in the top 334 ranked plans will be donated to the cooperators for installation. Delta Wildlife will provide approved structures with project funding provided by Monsanto and document the environmental benefits accrued at each site. 1,000 water control structures will be donated in total.
Page 2 of 3 pages Previous Page Next Page