The World of CRP Wetlands

by Emery F. Wiens, Civil Engineer
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Topeka, Kansas

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) offers some nice wetland choices for interested landowners. The three obvious choices, called “practices,” are CP23 Wetland Restoration, CP23a Wetland Restoration Non-Floodplain, and CP27 Farmable Wetland. The fourth choice is CP9 Shallow Water Area for Wildlife, technically not a wetland, but with 6-18 inch average depths, it functions as a wetland anyway even though its purpose is wildlife watering. Each of these choices is part of the continuous signup of the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP), and all are “high priority practices.” This means you can walk into your local U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Service Center, sign up with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) on any business day, and get the “ball rolling” on a CCRP wetland.

The CRP is managed by the FSA of USDA, but the technical aspect is handled by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) agency of USDA. The agencies are usually collocated in a USDA Service Center, and they do a great job of working together on projects such as these.

The great news about these choices is not only getting a wetland on your property, but also the free technical design service and the income derived from CCRP payments made to you for constructing the CCRP wetland. FSA’s payments are composed of yearly rental disbursements paid out to you over the life of the contract, plus cost-share dollars for construction (usually up to 50 percent of the county’s average cost), and possibly also a PIP (Practice Incentive Payment), a SIP (Signing Incentive Payment), and possible additional incentives. The entire cost of construction of one of these wetlands can quite possibly be exceeded by the sum of the payment dollars. Of course, the payments will differ some by practice, county, and site.

Each of the four practices requires the site to have been cropped a minimum amount in certain years. Islands of trees within the contracted acreage would not be part of the contract acres but could remain as they are. Cost-shared items for each practice include the pipe, earthwork, and seeding. Some items, like sheepsfoot compaction of the pool and the cost of construction permits, are not cost-shared. A certified wetland determination is not a requirement for contracting. Maintenance costs would be the responsibility of the landowner. Harvesting or grazing is not allowed.

Each practice has some unique characteristics, so let us look at each one separately. First, the CP9. Again, the CP9 is a Shallow Water Area for Wildlife. Its intent is watering, yet it ends up being shallow, just like a wetland. It has strict requirements to hold 6-18 inches of water at least six months of the average year. The length of the contract is ten years only. Soils on the site may be hydric or non-hydric (NRCS has this information). The maximum size contracted is ten acres. NRCS uses a special computer program to size the pool of the CP9 relative to the drainage area and permeability rate of the site. PIPs are available. This is one of the four practices that cannot have a water control structure in addition to a principal spillway pipe since the intent is to keep water in the pool year-round, not to adjust water levels seasonally. The CP9 requires a grass buffer that is 30-120 feet in width.

The CP23 Wetland Restoration is a little different from the CP9 practice. The CP23’s contract length is 10-15 years. The site must reside in the 100-year floodplain (FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has a map service on its Web site to check for this). At least 51 percent of the soils of the contracted area must be hydric. (The clayey, bottom ground tends to have the hydric soils.) A buffer is optional, up to three times the size of the wetland. The maximum upland to wetland ratio is also 3:1. The extent of restoration of the wetland is up to the landowner. An additional dollar incentive of 25 percent of restoration costs, not including buffer costs, is available. There is a limitation on total acreage of CP23s in Kansas, but otherwise there is no size restriction on the area contracted.

The CP23a Wetland Restoration Non-Floodplain is the same as the CP23 except for two things: (1) The CP23a cannot be in the 100-year floodplain, which is just the opposite of the CP23; and (2) The maximum upland to wetland ratio can be up to a maximum of 4:1, instead of CP23’s limitation of 3:1.

The final option is the CP27. The CP27 Farmable Wetland has a contract length of 10-15 years like the CP23, but the restoration must be to the maximum extent possible. All of the acreage must be a cropped wetland, or have a PC (prior converted) label, not in a floodplain, and must not be on a final National Inventory Map or on a USGS (United States Geological Survey) map; that is, USGS’s topographical maps. A CP28 buffer is also required, which would have a 30-foot minimum and 150-foot maximum grass width, but not be larger than three times the CP27 size. PIPs and SIPs and an additional incentive of 20 percent of the soil rental rate are offered as well. Maximum size contracted is ten acres, but only five acres are actually paid upon. Maximum CP-27 and CP-28 enrollment per tract is 40 acres.

The professionals at the USDA Service Center will help you figure out which of the four options would be the best for you and the site.

It is possible that your CRP contract can be extended for another contract term with FSA. Or, perhaps the site could be enrolled in the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) administered by NRCS. Usually, once a wetland has been constructed, the benefits of wildlife watching and hunting can outweigh the benefits of cropping.

Is the CRP the right way to go? To find out, visit your local USDA Service Center soon. Free advice! Free estimates! The final choice is yours!

For more information about NRCS programs, visit the Kansas NRCS Web site at www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov.

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The World of CRP Wetlands (DOC; 55 KB)

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Last Modified: 08/05/2008