Over the next five years, Kentucky will receive $4.4 million from the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, with the goal of improving water quality by reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loadings from agricultural operations.  The program aims to reduce loadings by providing producers with technical and financial assistance to develop Agriculture Water Quality and Nutrient Management Plans and to implement conservation practices at their agricultural operations.

These efforts are part of a larger goal of reducing nutrient loadings in Kentucky waterways and, ultimately, the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico watershed.  Kentucky has drafted a Nutrient Reduction Strategy, the purpose of which is to present a watershed-specific plan to manage nutrients in Kentucky. According to the Division of Water’s 2012 Integrated Report, 1,283 stream miles in Kentucky are impaired by nutrients in whole or in part from agricultural sources. Therefore, reducing contributions from these operations are an important part of Kentucky’s state-wide strategy.

Agencies that are contributing financial and technical resources to this program include the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources, the Kentucky Division of Conservation, and the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment.