It's Personal...Scenic Pennsylvania Lake Community Celebrates Protecting the Environment for Earth Day with USDA Funding

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Jacki Ponti-Lazaruk, Assistant Administrator, Water and Environmental Programs, USDA Rural Development, on April 25, 2014 at 5:00 PM

Tom Williams, PA RD State Director, Jacki Ponti-Lazaruk, RD WEP Program Assistant Administrator, and Jack Lennox, Roamingwood Water & Sewer Association General Manager, ceremoniously sign a portion of the new pipe that will replace old lines in the current system, making the system more energy, cost and water efficient.

As part of USDA’s weeklong celebration of the 44th anniversary of Earth Day, I had the pleasure of visiting Wayne County, Pennsylvania to announce funding that will bring improved water and wastewater services to residents and businesses of The Hideout, one of the state’s lake communities in the Pocono Mountains.

Thanks to congressional passage of the 2014 Farm Bill, USDA Rural Development received an additional $150 million to help rural communities build or upgrade water and wastewater systems in 40 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. We are pairing that grant money with an additional $232 million in regular funding to support 116 projects nationwide.

During my visit, I had the opportunity to talk with several long-time residents about the infrastructure projects.  The residents’ personal commitment and leadership was on display as they talked passionately about the importance of the funding. Betty Sullivan, the charismatic Board President of the Roamingwood Water & Sewer Association, an agent of the South Wayne County Water & Sewer Authority, has been involved in the infrastructure improvement project for twenty years. She has a keen understanding of the environmental importance of the project for both the existing residents and for future generations that will live, work and play here.

Bob Taggart, the father of a 12-year-old son, has owned a home in the community for over 20 years. Impressed by the quality of the school system and the community’s amenities, Bob made the decision to move here permanently from the New York City suburbs just five years ago. As a former environmental specialist for private industry, he also understands the environmental importance of the project. He is interested in the potential for connecting adjoining communities to the new system to help further protect the waters surrounding the community.  With the strong sense of community coupled with federal, state and local support, the future is promising for the growth of the community. The residents are all very appreciative of the Farm Bill funding that will help keep their water and sewer rates reasonable.

The work will be overseen by the South Wayne County Water and Sewer Authority, which is receiving a grant for more than $5 million and a loan of $8.4 million to replace a portion of a gravity sewer collection system.  The second Earth Day project involves replacing leaking water lines in a section of the 30 year-old water distribution system. Rural Development is providing a $2.3 million grant and a loan of almost $4.6 million to help with that effort. By replacing the old water and sewer lines, the project will significantly improve services, making them more energy, cost and water efficient and preventing the Authority from a costly expansion project for more than 3,200 homeowners of the Hideout Community.

As Assistant Administrator for Water and Environmental Programs, it is not hard to see why Earth Day ranks high on my list of favorite anniversaries and holidays!  I am especially grateful that the 2014 Farm Bill expanded our capacity to improve aging infrastructure in rural communities here in Pennsylvania and across the nation.

USDA Updates Multi-year Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Dean Johnson, USDA Facilities Energy & Water Program Manager, on December 5, 2013 at 10:00 AM

Many of the USDA programs touch almost every American, every day.  And as concerns grow about climate change, greenhouse gases and depleting natural resources, USDA continues creating opportunities for farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, public land managers and families in rural communities. These opportunities help these stakeholders generate prosperity in innovative, sustainable ways while conserving the Nation’s natural resources and preventing pollution.

USDA is committed to leading by example through fostering a clean energy economy, improving the environment by conducting operations in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner and complying with environmental laws and regulations. To accomplish this, USDA focuses on the future. The Department recognizes the significance of global climate change and utilizes this knowledge to create and maintain conditions under which people and nature can exist in productive harmony.

Building upon past sustainability efforts, USDA released its 2013 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan, which aligns sustainability goals, greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and overarching objectives for sustainability with its Strategic Plan. The Sustainability Plan helps USDA meet the targets the President set for agencies in 2009 for reducing energy use, pollution and waste in agency operations, and saving taxpayer dollars as a result.

Moreover, the Sustainability Plan integrates all statutory and policy requirements into a single implementation framework for advancing sustainability goals together with existing Departmental goals. The Plan makes the best use of existing and available resources. It also includes methods for obtaining data needed to measure progress, evaluate results and improve performance. The Department’s 2013 Plan is an annual update to its first edition, which was developed in June 2010.

Specifically, the Sustainability Plan provides a review of past performance, addresses challenges to achieving sustainability, discusses lessons learned and outlines actions planned beyond 2013.  So far, USDA has accomplished the following:

• Purchased and generated enough green power to meet 7.3 percent of the Department’s 2012 electricity use.

• 17.9 percent reduction in indirect greenhouse gas emissions compared to the 2008 base year.

• 5.5 percent reduction in direct greenhouse gas emissions compared to the 2008 base year.

• 21.3 percent reduction in energy intensity compared to the 2003 base year.

• 11.4 percent of buildings meet the Guiding Principles for Federal High Performance and Sustainable Buildings.

• 836.9 percent increase in alternative fuel consumption (for fleet vehicles) compared to the 2005 base year.

• 75 percent of the applicable (also known as covered) light duty vehicles USDA acquired are alternative fuel type.

• 12.6 percent reduction in potable water use compared to the 2007 base year.

More information about USDA’s 2013 Strategic Sustainability Plan is at http://www.dm.usda.gov/emd/sspp.htm.

Leading by Example: Conservation in Arizona

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USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Beverly Moseley, NRCS, on September 18, 2013 at 11:05 AM

Newly installed pivot irrigation lines run behind Gerry Gonzalez, NRCS district conservationist in Douglas (left) and farmer Alfredo Zamora.

Travel 30 miles south of Alfredo and Sabrina Zamora’s farm in Cochise County, Ariz., and the imposing border fence between the U.S. and Mexico rises up across the horizon. This border county is rural, arid, open land where the Zamoras have spent their lives farming.

The couple is well known in the area for their cotton, pecans and alfalfa crops and they are no strangers at the local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Douglas. They’ve worked with NRCS over the years to plan out and implement conservation on their farm, including more efficient water and irrigation practices, the use of crop residue to improve soil health and the reduction of soil erosion.

Both Zamoras grew up in Cochise County, and from a young age, they were in the fields working for area farmers. They left to attend college, but returned home after graduation in the 1990s to farm their own land. Almost immediately, Alfredo consulted with NRCS about available assistance.

“It was very hard for somebody like me with very little experience and no money to go into a government office and ask for things. We’ve come a long way in the last 20 years; I’d say in that I feel completely comfortable going in there,” Alfredo says.

Recently, the Zamoras replaced four outdated pivot irrigation systems with new upgraded ones on their cropland with help from the USDA StrikeForce Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative. The new pivot irrigation lines are 10 percent more efficient in water use and electricity and should last up to 30 years, ultimately saving not just water, but also money.

The national initiative addresses high-priority funding and technical assistance needs in rural communities in 16 states, including Arizona, with a special emphasis on historically underserved communities and areas with persistent poverty.

Gerry Gonzalez, district conservationist with the NRCS in Douglas, was excited when he learned that Arizona was part of StrikeForce, because the initiative provides NRCS additional funding to do specialized outreach to historically underserved communities.

“Here along the border areas, there are a lot of small landowners—a lot of underserved, nontraditional clients and the USDA Strikeforce initiative provides opportunities for them,” Gonzalez says.

The Zamoras have worked closely over the years with Gonzalez and agree with him that the initiative provides an opportunity for people interested in farming to possibly reach that goal.

The Zamoras serve as an example of how NRCS can help make a difference on their operation. They regularly hold field days on their farm to share with other local farmers the benefits of USDA programs and to increase participation in those programs, especially among Hispanic farmers, who USDA considers a historically underserved population.

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Check out other conservation-related stories on the USDA blog.

Vibrant alfalfa, along with other crops like cotton and pecans, are grown by Alfredo and Sabrina Zamora on their farm in Douglas, Ariz.