Soil & Water:
Services Provided by the District

• Technical Assistance (advice and/or planning) on erosion control and water quality issues. Clients are served through visits to our office, phone consultations, and site visits. Agronomists, engineers, soil scientists, and other specialists from a number of local, state, and federal agencies work closely with the District staff to serve our client’s needs. Some of the areas the District assists with are:
  
  

  Soil Erosion Animal Waste Management Stream Bank Stabilization Pond Site Assessments Sedimentation Nutrient Management

  Plants for Erosion Control Storm Water Control Spring Development Riparian Restoration Private Access Road Layout Urban Erosion Control

  
  
• Educational Programs such as:
  • Presentations to school classes, civic organizations, community clubs, and others.
  • Annual Poster, Essay, and Public Speaking contests for students
  • Environmental Education Field Days for students
  • Workshops such as Project Wet, Project Wild, and Aquatic Wild
  • Special Exhibits (Mtn. State Fair, etc.)
  • Environmental Education Newsletters
  • Video Library
  • Educational Materials (cartoon booklets, etc.)
    
    
• Administer or help to administer State, Federal, and local conservation programs such as:
  • North Carolina Agriculture Cost Share Program – provides a 75% cost share to persons who install water quality improvement projects on agricultural lands. The District has two full-time staff working with this program and receives an average annual allocation of $120,000 for cost share with farmers.
    
  • Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)– a federal program that provides cost share for a variety of water quality conservation practices.
    
  • Buncombe County Voluntary Farmland Preservation Program – a local government program that allows farmers to voluntarily enroll their farm property in an agricultural district. The purpose of the program is to slow the decline of farmlands in the county and offer operators of farms some protection from encroachment of development.
    
    
• Soils data for Buncombe County. Aerial photos, map unit descriptions, soil series descriptions, and soils series interpretations are available from an unpublished 1975 soil survey. The county is currently being mapped and the above information is available on the areas that have been mapped.

• National Wetland Inventory Maps (1995)
  
  
• Aerial Photos – 1951, 1963, 1975, 1982, 1988

• U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Flood Hazard Maps

• U.S.G.S, 7.5 minute topographic maps of Buncombe County