Cleveland County Soil & Water Conservation Cost Share Program

How it works

Cleveland County’s Soil and Water Conservation office runs several conservation cost-share programs that help farmers and landowners pay for and implement best management practices (BMPs). The county says each program has different focus areas and eligibility rules, and applications are ranked objectively in a competitive process. The highest-ranking projects receive funding.

What the money covers

The page lists four current programs implemented through the Conservation Office:

• Agricultural Cost Share Program (ACSP): a state-funded program focused on water quality, especially preventing sedimentation and streambank erosion on farms.
• Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): a federally funded program focused on a broad range of natural resource concerns.
• Agricultural Water Resources Program (AgWRAP): a state-funded program focused on water quantity and irrigation needs.
• Community Conservation Assistance Program (CCAP): a state-funded program for landowners and community organizations that improve water quality.

The page gives examples of BMPs supported by these programs, including planting cover crops, fencing cattle out of streams, cattle waterers, stream fencing, drip irrigation for produce farms, grassed waterways, cropland conversion to pastureland, litter sheds, composters for poultry farms, high tunnels for produce farms, wells or ponds for irrigation, rain cisterns for school greenhouses, rain gardens, abandoned well closures, and streambank restoration.

Amounts and matching

For the most part, the county says cost-share programs pay for roughly 75% of the cost of installing the BMP, and the landowner pays the remaining 25%.

How to apply

Applying for cost-share assistance is free. The county encourages landowners to apply even though there is no guarantee that funding will be available.

Timing and deadlines

The page does not give an application deadline, open/closed date, or funding cycle timing.

Notes for homeowners

This page is about conservation and water-quality work, not residential wildfire hardening. The page does not mention roof, vent, siding, window, gutter, or defensible-space retrofit incentives for homes.