As the calendar turns to spring, my mind turns to golf. Golf has also been on my mind because of what I heard at some recent farmer/landowner meetings we hosted throughout the state. When we asked the participants what the leading causes of water quality issues are in Iowa, participants listed urban such as golf courses and lawns as one of the top three causes.

The Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition (ADMC) has developed a series of learning modules that focus on engaging Certified Crop Advisors on the role that water management plays in crop production and nutrient movement. In partnership with the Conservation Technology Information Center, ADMC created these trainings to provide additional resources to Ag Advisors on the benefits of conservation drainage.
 

“Our model explains what's going on across 83 watersheds in the Midwest, providing a quantitative understanding of why certain watersheds differ in terms of nutrient loss. But the most important contribution is our scenario prediction, which hasn’t been done before. If you increase tile drainage or the corn fraction, how much does the nitrogen load change? 

What sites are suitable for drainage water recycling? The short answer is: a site that can benefit from both improved drainage and supplemental irrigation. If you know how to access the USDA-NRCS’s Web Soil Survey, you can look up the suitability of the field’s soils for drainage as well as irrigation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is asking for public input on two water quality conservation initiatives, the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) and the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI). Through the Federal Register notice published today, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) seeks feedback on how best to target program benefits, quantify impact, and improve program delivery and outreach in the future.

People have always tried combating the elements when it comes to farming — finding ways to plant earlier, keep crops safe and get better yields. Drain tile is one option.

“It has been a great deal. Virtually every piece of farmland I own is tiled,” Wyndmere farmer Jim Dotzenrod said.

Dotzenrod has been farming since 1973, and he first had drain tile installed around 2006. Since then, he has seen large increases in yields due to plants surviving during periods of extended rainfall.

​With the retirement of State Conservationist Ivan Dozier, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) would like to announce that Tammy Willis has been selected to serve a 120-detail as the Acting State Conservationist for Illinois until the position is filled permanently. Willis began her detail on February 27 and has assumed all duties of the Illinois State Conservationist position. Her bio follows.

Two years ago, Illinois had adopted a landmark clean energy law that called for building vast amounts of renewable power. At the same time, 15 counties with some of the most land available for wind and solar had passed, or were about to pass, restrictions on new development that made the state’s goals more difficult to reach. Something had to give. That something came last month, when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill that took away the ability of local governments to limit or ban wind and solar power.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making funding available for agricultural producers and forest landowners nationwide to participate in voluntary conservation programs and adopt climate-smart practices. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided an additional $19.5 billion over five years for climate smart agriculture through several of the conservation programs that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) implements.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Illinois announced new  easement values used with the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). The Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE) portion of ACEP helps private landowners restore and protect critical wetlands.

 Farmers who have been waiting for approval and funding for USDA conservation programs this year may want to check with local offices about new dollars being added to the pot.

USDA on Monday announced the department is releasing $850 million to boost enrollment in some of its major conservation programs this year.

Researchers led by the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis plan to develop a more economical process to create concrete products that would ultimately result in a carbon-negative impact on the environment.

With TWI’s Smart Wetlands designs, we are simply providing the opportunity for wetlands to do what they all do naturally. By intercepting the tile water and allowing it to slow down and gently flow through a shallow wetland full of native plants, the naturally occurring processes adsorb/absorb, transform, sequester, uptake, trap, and remove nitrogen and phosphorus and other chemicals.

The JULIE Board of Directors recently approved a bill proposal to amend the Illinois Underground Utility Facilities Damage Prevention Act. These substantial revisions include amendatory language to enhance public safety, minimize risks to excavators and prevent disruption of vital public services.

State Conservationist Ivan Dozier announced that the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will offer Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) funding for the Precision Conservation Management efforts in several Illinois counties. Illinois NRCS has partnered with the Illinois Corn Growers Association to help producers address sheet and rill erosion on farm ground in project areas.   

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will offer Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) funding for the Lake Springfield Source Water Protection Project throughout the Lake Springfield watershed. Illinois NRCS has partnered with City, Water, Light, and Power to help producers address resource concerns such as reducing erosion on farmland and protecting aquatic habitat.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will offer Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) funding for the Kinkaid Lake Restoration Project throughout the Lake Kinkaid watershed. Illinois NRCS has partnered with Kinkaid-Reed’s Conservancy District to help producers address resource concerns such as erosion on farmland and degraded plant conditions. 

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will offer Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) funding for the Southern Illinois Oak Ecosystem Restorations effort in Southern Illinois.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service will offer funding in Marshall and Putnam Counties for the Mississippi River Basin Big Bend Enhancing Water-Soil-Habitat Quality project.

The funding will be offered through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

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State Conservationist, Ivan Dozier announced the submission deadline for Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) applications to be considered for funding in fiscal year (FY) 2023 is February 3, 2023. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) plans to invest up to $12.1 million for new CSP contracts in fiscal year 2023 in Illinois.

The Biden administration's new “waters of the U.S.” rule came under immediate criticism from farm groups and their GOP allies in Congress, who said it could expand federal jurisdiction over agricultural lands.

They also reiterated their stance that the administration should have waited for a pending Supreme Court ruling before finalizing the new definition of what land and water features are regulated under the Clean Water Act.

Programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program have long been oversubscribed, something the new funding is expected to address. But the Agriculture Department is under pressure to increase NRCS staffing to handle the surge of spending.

Springfield Plastics, Inc. has donated more than $675,000 to Simmons Cancer Institute at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois, and John Stoddard Cancer Center of UnityPoint Health in Des Moines, Iowa, over the past nine years through its Drain for the Cure fundraiser.

State Conservationist Ivan Dozier announced USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will offer funding in Macoupin, Morgan, and Sangamon Counties for the Otter Lake Source Water Protection project through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

State Conservationist Ivan Dozier announced USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will offer funding to control invasive plants in forest stands in east-central Illinois through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). NRCS has partnered with the Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and the Headwaters Invasive Plant Partnership (HIPP) to help producers address resource concerns such as water quality and soil health.

State Conservationist Ivan Dozier announced USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will offer funding for the following Landscape Initiatives throughout the state: Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI) and the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI).

Illinois agricultural producers and forestry managers who want to address or improve natural resources are encouraged to sign up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Ivan Dozier, Illinois Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationist, announced that January 6, 2023 will be the EQIP application deadline.

State Conservationist Ivan Dozier announced USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will offer funding to help improve fish and wildlife habitat on cropland, forests, streams and prairies in northwestern Illinois through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

ISAP’s Conservation Story Map is designed to communicate sustainable agriculture efforts in Illinois and facilitate connections to support healthy soil, clean water, and profitable farms. We encourage you to connect with individuals and businesses listed on the map and invite you to put your own pin on the map!

Common Ground Alliance (CGA), the national nonprofit trade association dedicated to protecting underground utility lines, people who dig near them and their communities, today announced the findings from its 2021 Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) Report. The annual DIRT Report provides a comprehensive accounting and analysis of damages to buried infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada to help stakeholders understand the current damage landscape and the factors contributing to underground facility damages.

Ivan Dozier, State Conservationist, announced the application period for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Agricultural Conservation Easement Program - Wetland Reserve Easements (ACEP-WRE). The purpose of the Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE) program is to help landowners enhance and protect habitat for wetland wildlife on their lands, reduce impacts from flooding, recharge groundwater, provide outdoor recreation, and increase habitat for migratory waterfowl.

Funding is now available for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Agriculture Land Easements (ACEP-ALE) This program provides an opportunity for landowners to place land into an easement while continuing to produce an agricultural commodity.

State Conservationist Ivan Dozier announced that the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will offer Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) funding for the Working Lands, Water and Wildlife Partnership throughout Illinois. Illinois NRCS has partnered with The Conservation Fund to help producers address resource concerns such as inadequate habitat for wildlife, water quality, and long-term protection of farmland.

Does the soil health narrative need to change in Illinois? Stacy Zuber, NRCS soil health specialist for Illinois, says yes. Her take: We need to change the soil health conversation, or many Illinois farmers will be watching from the sidelines.

Although Zuber is an Illinois native, she spent several years working on postdoctoral research in Indiana and Missouri.

When designing a conservation drainage practice, did you know that you can improve its water quality performance by picking a certain pipe material?

Saturated buffers, woodchip denitrifying bioreactors and phosphorus removal structures are conservation drainage practices aimed at reducing nutrient concentration in subsurface drainage discharge. One way to improve the performance of these practices is to treat a higher volume of drainage water by picking a certain pipe material.

Keegan Kult, Executive Director of the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition (ADMC), joins Jamie to talk about their latest initiatives, including Batch and Build, which improves water quality an entire watershed at a time.

– Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership (ISAP) is excited to announce the publication of the first Cover Crop Incentive Directory for Illinois. The directory aims to provide a clear comparison of several programs that offer payment incentives to Illinois farmers for growing cover crops.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that it has expanded its Post-Application Coverage Endorsement (PACE) insurance option for corn farmers who “split-apply” nitrogen to include most counties in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin where non-irrigated corn is insurable. 

Australian researchers have analyzed the structural properties of walls made from end-of-life car tires packed with dirt, giving engineers some figures to work with and making a well-known upcycling technique available to the construction industry.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) announced today the approval of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS) and Conservation Planning Assistance grant agreement. 

Illinois water issues are legion. They are pressing. And those who deal with those issues face serious challenges meeting them.

Rapidly shifting science, a legacy of underfunded agencies not suited to the task of rapid change, a population reluctant to engage on many of the issues, and an environment that is changing too fast complicate all the other elements.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will invest $15 million this year for the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Classic program. Through CIG, grantees work to address our nation's water quality, water quantity, air quality, soil health and wildlife habitat challenges, all while supporting agricultural production.

The Trump administration’s proposed new definition of “waters of the United States” in the Clean Water Act is either a radical policy shift that misinterprets Supreme Court precedent and will leave up to 70 percent of tributaries and half the nation’s wetlands unprotected, or it’s a constitutionally valid approach to regulating the nation’s waters that preserves the states’ lead role over water pollution control and land use planning.

The Inflation Reduction Act includes approximately $1 billion for conservation technical assistance, which allows NRCS and conservation districts across the country to get boots on the ground to support producers implement conservation. 

ADMC members had a big presence at the 11th International Drainage Symposium, but none bigger than Charlie Schafer, Chairman of the ADMC Board and President of Agri Drain Corp, who was inducted into the International Drainage Hall of Fame as part of the 2021/2022 class.

Advances in the science of conservation drainage systems can allow producers to meet their water management needs while delivering on economic, environmental, and sustainability goals. But despite the proven benefits of conservation drainage practices, producers have yet to demand the practices on a wide enough basis to make a meaningful impact.

The Agriculture Department is significantly increasing its farm earning forecast for 2022, estimating net cash farm income will reach its highest level in a decade due to the booming prices for crops and animal products.

Total construction spending decreased by 0.4 percent in July as spending on new houses and apartments tumbled, overshadowing a pickup in private nonresidential and public construction, according to an analysis the Associated General Contractors of America released today of federal spending data.

The Technical Assistance (TA) Grant Program is in its fifth year and is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). This program allows NACD to accelerate on-the-ground conservation by increasing the capacity available to conduct outreach and deliver technical assistance to farmers, ranchers and forest stewards across the U.S.

Nitrous oxide may be much less abundant in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, but as a greenhouse gas, it's a doozy. With a potency 300 times greater than CO2, nitrous oxide's warming potential, especially via agriculture, demands attention.

While the construction industry added 32,000 jobs in July, the fact remains that the industry’s labor supply remains severely constrained.

Analysis of federal data by both the Associated Builders and Contractors and the Associated General Contractors of America also indicated that unemployment in the sector fell to 3.5% as the number of unfilled construction positions continues to approach record levels. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today it will invest $15 million this year for the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Classic program. Through CIG, grantees work to address our nation's water quality, water quantity, air quality, soil health and wildlife habitat challenges, all while supporting agricultural production.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that it is investing up to $5 million in the Wetland Mitigation Banking Program (WMBP). This grant program supports the development of mitigation banks for use by agricultural producers seeking to maintain eligibility for USDA programs. Funds are available to Tribes, state and local government entities, nonprofits and other organizations.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing up to $20 million in fiscal 2023 to help conservation partners protect and restore critical wetlands  through the Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP). 

The dead zone, or hypoxic area, is an area of low oxygen that can kill fish and other marine life. It occurs every summer and is primarily a result of excess nutrient pollution from human activities in cities and farm areas throughout the Mississippi River watershed. 

JCG Midwest is excited to announce that after a decade of providing water management solutions to our customers, we have decided to expand to a second location in Monticello, Illinois.

Our new location is a direct result of increased demand, customer loyalty, and our commitment to our customers’ needs.

Water quality improvements often happen in fields and underground – places that can be hard to see up close and in one setting.

But thanks to the aid of computer monitors, visual demonstrations and printed material, the water quality team with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is planning to make water quality improvement very visual during this year’s Farm Progress Show, Aug. 30-Sept. 1 in Boone.

Given widespread biodiversity declines, a growing global human population, and demands to improve water quality, there is an immediate need to explore land management solutions that support multiple ecosystem services. 

The value of on-farm research continues to be demonstrated in large ways across Illinois. The Shelby County Farm Bureau Nutrient Stewardship Field Day, held June 30th near Shelbyville, was no exception.

In 2022's first six months, 22 workers have fallen victim to the deadly hazards present in trenching and excavation work – surpassing 15 in all of 2021 – and prompting the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to launch enhanced enforcement initiatives to protect workers from known industry hazards.

Status and Trend Reports It is the third of its kind produced as part of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) program and includes information on long-term changes in water quality, aquatic vegetation and fish from six study areas spanning the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

Every year, National LICA awards scholarships to support students in their pursuit of higher education and to encourage students to fulfill their dreams of entering into the career of their choice. 

NOAA is forecasting a summer “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico that will be approximately 5,364 square miles, making it about average for the 35-year history of the summertime dead zone measurements in the region. The forecast is lower than last year’s measured size and slightly lower than the five-year average measured size of 5,380 square miles. 

Respondents were asked about their degree of familiarity with six different types of conservation drainage practices: woodchip bioreactors, saturated buffers, drainage water management, constructed wetlands, subirrigation, and drainage water recycling. Drainage water management was the most familiar to respondents, with 75% of drainage contractors reporting they were very familiar with the practice. Drainage water recycling was the least familiar practice, with just 23% reporting they were very familiar with it.

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 that had been in place was the first major U.S. law to address water pollution issues. However, it was not providing the protection it should have due to a lack of enforcement. The Clean Water Act of 1972 was an amendment to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. 

The new LICA Educational Foundation for Veterans staff has been working diligently to advance the foundation’s mission. Earlier this year we submitted a grant application to help fund the foundation. We will know later this summer if application was accepted for funding.

Birkey’s Farm Store, headquartered in Champaign, is now 100% employee-owned, as it has transitioned its business structure to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) as of December 31, 2021. 

In 2005, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), began a long-term study to understand if, and how much, constructed wetlands can reduce agricultural nutrient losses from tile drainage on a Midwest row crop farm. Recent analyses of data collected over a 12-year period and published in the Journal of Environmental Quality shows that these treatment wetlands are very effective both in removing nitrate and in retaining dissolved phosphorus delivered from adjacent row crop farm fields via tile drains.

U. of I. natural resources and environmental sciences researcher Lowell Gentry describes the pros and cons of various strategies to reduce nitrate runoff from agricultural fields.

No-till reduces soil erosion, reduces surface runoff, increases organic matter and increases soil water holding capacity. However, Baker et al., 2017 notes that there is a risk of P transport through macropores with no-till in fine-textured clay soil.

In a new study, researchers have shown that wetlands built next to farmlands can dramatically reduce the amount of excess nutrients reaching aquatic environments.

The EPA is pressing state environmental regulators to expand the number of so-called pollution diets to reduce nutrient runoff in rivers and other water bodies and to expand the adoption of numeric nutrient standards, according to an agency memorandum sent to state officials this week.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled a new plan to help guide voluntary conservation work over the next five years across 25 states, including over 7 million acres of new conservation practices on productive, working lands, and ​will contribute to the current Administration’s efforts to make our nation a leader on climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience. Illinois is one of those states.

A new study in the journal Earth's Future led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that, since Euro-American settlement approximately 160 years ago, agricultural fields in the midwestern U.S. have lost, on average, two millimeters of soil per year. This is nearly double the rate of erosion that the USDA considers sustainable. 

A new study suggests more opportunities to protect waterways: One system for keeping too many nutrients out of streams could be used more widely than it is now. Known as saturated riparian buffer strips, the system slows down and redirects water coming off farm fields.

Hundreds of miles south of Chicago, decomposing algae in the Gulf of Mexico makes life so perilous for fish they swim away — or die.

These dead zones, which result from algae blooms sapping up oxygen, have increased in oceans around the world as waters warm.

Progress, current and future challenges were highlighted in the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy biennial report.

Details of the report were unveiled during the Nov. 10 NLRS Partnership Conference.

The 2015 Illinois NLRS established a goal to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in Illinois waterways by 45%, with interim reduction goals of 15% nitrate-nitrogen and 25% total phosphorus by 2025.

Most farmers are fully aware of the benefit drain tile provides to land in our area.

In fact, three farm infrastructure investments that never concern Suzy Martin, a Farm Management Specialist with the Ohio Valley Farm Analysis Association, are the installation of irrigation systems, grain storage systems, and soil drainage systems.

These three investments are essentially guaranteed to increase farm income over their useful service life, therefore considered a wise investment for your land.

Conservation drainage practices, applied in a conservation systems approach, offer great promise to improve environmental performance and farm economic viability on artificially-drained cropland. However, despite their benefits, producers are not adopting these practices on a widespread basis on tile-drained cropland.

Anybody who’s walked the streets of the Farm Progress Show knows there’s a whole lot of wood chips out there. Turns out, they have life after the show.

Folks at the University of Illinois have put them to work following the 2021 FPS, using them to fill six wood chip bioreactors on Eric Miller’s farm in Piatt County, Ill.

Poorly drained agricultural soils emit enough of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide that the resulting climate change effects could far exceed the benefits of using the same soils as a means of sequestering carbon, according to a recently published scientific study.

Understanding what’s inside a 1,000+ page bill can feel daunting- so we’ve done our best to pull out the details below in a longer-than-usual blog post (!) as well as some thoughts on what’s ahead for implementing River Network’s priorities- clean, safe, affordable drinking water, resilient cities and communities, healthy rivers in agricultural landscapes, and robust and effective water laws and policies- are all present in the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (HR 3684). 

On a cold wet November morning, a couple dozen people met in the Lu Verne Community Center to learn about oxbows and all the benefits of restoring an oxbow. The planned tour of a recently restored oxbow and nearby restoration a few years old was called off due to the wet conditions but Drone13 was able to fly over both sites, as seen in the video above.

Several locations in California set all-time 24-hour rainfall records this past weekend when an atmospheric river delivered much needed precipitation as the majority of the state remains in extreme drought conditions.

In Sacramento, this wettest day on record followed the longest consecutive dry spell on record amid California’s second driest year.

Do you know what’s below the ground? It’s a simple question, but many excavators are not aware that buried beneath the ground is an extensive network of millions of miles of pipes, wires and cables that transport natural gas and other energy resources, electricity, telecommunications, water, and sewage. Contacting 811 is more than a call.

The success of the Polk County Saturated Buffer project has shown that there is potential to deliver edge-of-field conservation practices at a scale and pace significant enough to have an impact on water quality by improving upon traditional practice delivery methods. The pilot project has increased the number of bioreactors and saturated buffers installed in Iowa to 166 from 115. and did so in a cost-effective manner. 

A new constructed wetland was showcased during the recent Vermilion Headwaters Watershed field tour in Livingston County.

The constructed wetland was installed in August 2018 on Fulton Farms farmland and is designed to capture and remove nutrients from tile drainage. The wetland encompasses 4.6 acres, including a 1.1-acre water-holding pond and a 3.5-acre buffer that’s planted as a pollinator habitat.

The Land Improvement Contractors of America (LICA) has established the LICA Educational Foundation for Veterans. The foundation’s mission is to train U.S. military veterans to become highly skilled heavy equipment operators, as well connecting them with employment opportunities.

A new study finds wetlands constructed along waterways are the most cost-effective way to reduce nitrate and sediment loads in large streams and rivers. Rather than focusing on individual farms, the research suggests conservation efforts using wetlands should be implemented at the watershed scale.

 Drainage water recycling (DWR) is a drainage management system designed to capture water during wet periods so it can be used later when growing crops are thirsty.

Versions of DWR have been around for years, but adoption has remained limited. Now, interest is growing as the practice is recognized for its potential to improve water quality and help farmers reduce risks from weather volatility.  

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Subsurface “tile” drainage is an essential agricultural water management practice on naturally poorly drained soils in Indiana and throughout much of the Midwest. We have conducted a long-term (35yr) drainage research study at the Southeast Purdue Agricultural Center (SEPAC) on high silt, low organic matter, poorly-structured soils that were not typically tile-drained prior to the 1980s.

Lee Tesdell farms 80 acres near Huxley, Iowa, that have been in his family since 1884. To maintain such a legacy, he’s adopted a long-term view of sustainability and strives to make his farm an example of the impact conservation practices have on soil health and water quality.

Today, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS), and Meridian Institute launched a Roadmap to accelerate the adoption of edge of field practices on US farmlands. Edge of field practices—like saturated buffers and prairie strips—can help farmers improve water quality, store more carbon in the soil, reduce flooding, support pollinators, and enhance wildlife habitat in working landscapes.