Illinois Success Story

Buffer Success in Champaign County

By: Jill Creamean, NRCS Public Affairs Specialist
Date: December 2002

NRCS in Champaign County leads the state in establishment of vegetative buffers along streams and waterways to improve water quality and increase wildlife habitat. To date, 69% of streambank miles in the county are lined with grasses, native grasses, trees, and other native habitat, which all filter pollutants and nutrients from runoff water before entering our streams. NRCS provides design and technical expertise, working closely with the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to provide information and assistance landowners need to make buffers work for them.

948 of Champaign County’s 1,376 miles of streambanks are protected with fully-established buffers. The buffer program is popular with landowners and operators, and most of the county’s 1,700 active farmers have some or all of their streambanks buffered. Only 400 have segments of streambank without buffers.

In 1996, NRCS District Conservationist Leon Wendte, with SWCD directors and staff, set a long-term goal of establishing filter strips along 95% of county streambanks. After only 7 years, the goal is in sight.

"We’ve made tremendous progress toward our goal," said Wendte. "I attribute much of this success to the one-on-one contact and support our Field Office has provided to landowners."

The Field Office used GIS technology to track buffered streams and worked with landowners interested in establishing buffers through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The SWCD Buffer Coordinator assisted landowners through the entire process: paperwork, planning, planting, maintenance and follow-up. Wendte also credits program success to the appeal of continuous CRP sign-up, availability of seeding equipment through Pheasants Forever, and support from SWCD staff.

A total of 7,599 acres of streambank buffers in Champaign County filter water and provide habitat, nesting cover and winter cover for many species of wildlife. A University of Illinois study identified over 60 bird species using Champaign County buffers in the summer of 2002.

This localized buffer establishment also benefits water quality in the county and beyond. Three major Illinois watersheds "begin" in Champaign County, making Champaign County the first point of entry for water that flows into these watersheds and to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. This "starting from the top" approach to large-scale resource protection will ultimately result in a higher standard of water quality across the region.

Photo Caption: Champaign County farmer Jerry Heinz plants buffers to conserve soil and water resources and protect his bottom line. "I see the value in buffer practices from an economical and environmental perspective," says Heinz. "With buffers, we’ve brought back quality and diversity. My son catches fish in our drainage ditch. That hasn’t happened for 20 years!"

Photo courtesy of Robert J. Reber