As a registered water user you are protecting your rights to the use of an equitable amount of surface water in times of shortage and to establish ground water rights within critical areas. Also you may benefit from cost-share programs, generated by the fees collected, in your Conservation District. The water usage amounts that you provide help the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission to develop a comprehensive ground water protection program, designate critical ground water areas, and allocate surface water. The water data is used as a basis for determining the state's overall usage and water needs for inclusion in the Arkansas Water Plan. Fifty percent of all fees and seventy-five percent of all penalties collected will be utilized for cost-share on water conservation practices, administration, and information/education programs in your Conservation District.

Act of 154 of 1991 requires all users of ground and surface water be assessed an annual water use fee in the amount of $10 per registered well and/or $10 per registered relift site. These fees are required for all non-exempt wells or relift sites including any idle wells or relift sites.

 Act of 408 of 1989 provides for the collection of a late registration penalty. Any person who fails to register a well or relift site by the March 1 deadline shall be subject to this penalty for each year they fail to register.

 Act of 81 or 1957, as amended, empowers the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission to make allocations among users of surface water during periods of water shortage. Information from water use registration will be utilized in allocation actions and as a basis for determining the State's overall water usage and water needs.

 If you are a return registrant, we appreciate the effort you made in reporting your water use last year. If you know of anyone who has failed to report in the past, please make your local Conservation District aware of them. Also, advise them of these laws and suggest that they contact their local Conservation District for assistance in complying with these laws. Note when registering a pre-existing well or relift site for the first time, there is a one time waiver of any penalties for non-compliance for the prior years. However, the old well or relift site will have the same status of a new well for allocation purposes.

 J. Randy Young, P.E.
Executive Director
Arkansas Natural Resources Commission

This is where the new article goes The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) encourages agricultural and forestry producers to maintain existing conservation activities and to adopt additional ones on their operations. CSP is a new voluntary conservation program that provides financial and technical assistance to conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land. CSP provides opportunities to both recognize excellent stewards and deliver valuable new conservation.

CSP is available on Tribal and private agricultural lands, as well as, no industrial private forest lands throughout the U.S. and its territories. The program provides equitable access to all producers, regardless of operation size, crops produced, or geographic location.

CSP provides participants with two possible types of payments. An annual payment is available for installing new conservation activities and maintaining existing activities. A supplemental payment may be earned by participants receiving an annual payment who also adopt a resource-conserving crop rotation.

Through 5-year contracts, payments will be made as soon as practical after October of each year for contract activities installed and maintained in the previous year. For all contracts, CSP payments to a person or legal entity may not exceed $40,000 in any year, and $200,000 during any 5-year period. Each CSP contract will be limited to $200,000 over the term of the initial contract period.

Applicants must:

• Be the operator of record in the USDA farm records management system for the eligible land being offered for enrollment;
• Have documented control of the land for the term of the proposed contract;
• Include the eligible land in their entire operation as represented for other USDA programs;
• Be in compliance with the highly erodible land wetland conservation provisions of 7 CFR Part 12, and adjusted gross income provisions of 7 CFR part 1400.

For more information and updates about the Farm Bill, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill, or the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) website at www.nrcs.usda.gov/farmbill;

For more information on CSP, contact your local NRCS field office. The Little Rock Field Office can be reached at (501) 758-2544 Ext.3.