Inspiring Personal Responsibility for our Environment and Natural Resources.
The Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District (PWSWCD or District) is focused on protecting and enhancing our water and soil resources by providing leadership in the conservation of soil, water, and related resources to all Prince William County citizens through technical assistance, information, and education.
Services
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Free Technical Assistance for Traditional Ag. and Horse Farms
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Conservation Plans
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Nutrient Management Plans
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Soil Sampling
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State Cost-Share/ Tax-Credit Programs
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Conservation Capsules (Classroom Education)
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Farm Field Days
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Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE)
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Arbor Day
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Adopt-A-Stream
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Water Quality Monitoring
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Floatables Monitoring
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Plastic Pollution
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VCAP
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Gardener's Gold
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Pollinators Corner
Want to show support for water quality projects? Then check out the Chesapeake Bay License Plate! Click here for an application.
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We get lots of questions every day and we want to make sure you are guided in the right direction!
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For services the District provides, click here. This will tell you who from District staff can help you out!
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For services the District does not provide, click here. If your question is not on the list, contact any of us and we'll do our best to help!
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Got questions, but not in Prince William County (or City of Manassas)? Click here for information on how to contact your local soil & water conservation district!
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News & Upcoming Events
Latest Newsletter - Fall 2020
Annual Report for FY 2019:
July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019 (Annual Report for FY 2020 coming soon!)
Calendar: Board Dates and Upcoming Events
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VASWCD YouTube: Check out these educational YouTube videos!
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Women for the Land Learning Circles (Virtual): Calling all Prince William County women farmers! Circles will be held on Oct. 20th and Oct. 22nd.
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Agriculture Cost Share: NEW programs are now available!
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Nutrient Management: A Message for Producers: Important info. on protecting the Chesapeake Bay
Interested in Volunteering? Click here!
Is This a District Question?
Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (VASWCD) Education Videos
Being unable to hold public events at this time, the VASWCD has compiled a YouTube channel for kids and adults containing videos across the state on a wide variety of topics including Agriculture Best Management Practices, Watersheds, Septic Systems, Soils, and more!
Check out their channel by clicking here!
Did you know we also have a YouTube channel? Check out our channel by clicking here! (New videos recently added!)
Women for the Land Learning Circle (Virtual)
Calling all Prince William County women farmers!
Did you know that 43% of agriculture land is farmed or co-farmed by women? Women farmers play a major role in sustainable agriculture, yet they face many challenges as land owners, land managers, and/or land seekers. The Women for the Land Learning Circle is an excellent opportunity to connect with other women farmers who are in the same boat as you!
These circles will take place virtually from 10am -11:30am on Tuesday October 20th, with a follow-up on Thursday October 22nd (same time). Click here for the agenda for Day 1, Oct. 20th, and click here for the agenda for Day 2, Oct. 22nd. Though there is no fee, pre-registration is required so we can try to give you materials ahead of time. You can pre-register at:
farmland.salsalabs.org/midatlanticwomenfortheland/index.html; deadline to pre-register is October 19th.
The circles are open to anyone in Prince William County or neighboring counties. If you know someone who might be interested, please pass this along!
For more information, please go to farmland.org/project/women-for-the-land. If you have any questions, please contact Nicole Slazinski at nicoleethier@pwswcd.org.
Women for the Land Learning Circles are brought to you by the American Farmland Trust with partnership from NRCS. They are funded by a generous grant from Southern SARE—Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education.
Virginia Agriculture Cost Share (VACS)
Cost Share funding is available from the District! These funds provide financial assistance for agricultural landowners and operators to implement best management practices on their properties in order to improve soil and water quality. If you have a natural resources concern on your farm, now is the time to talk with district staff about developing a plan to address these concerns! We can provide cost-share funding for practices to address:
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soil erosion on crop and pasture land
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exclude livestock from waterways
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implement nutrient management plans
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adopt new precision nutrient application technology
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establish tree plantings or vegetated buffers along streams
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plant cover crops
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construct manure storage facilities (more options available)
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construct feed lots/sacrifice areas (New!)
In order to qualify for cost-share, your farm must meet the following:
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Property has/had a water quality concern (e.g. livestock has/had access to a waterway, no manure storage system, no cover crops when main crops aren’t growing)
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Property must have at least 5 consecutive acres
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Property has been in agriculture production for the past 5 years
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Property has produced at least $1,000 worth of agriculture products/year (agriculture products include crops, hay, and livestock, such as cattle, equine, sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, etc. Horses solely for personal use are not considered as agriculture products.)
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Property is located in Prince William County (if your farm outside of Prince William, contact your local soil and water conservation district; to find your district, click here.)
If you feel you have a need to implement these practices on your farm, or have any questions about the cost-share program, please contact us:
(571) 379-7514
Jay Yankey - jayyankey@pwswcd.org
Mike Miller - conservation@pwswcd.org
Nicole Slazinski - nicoleethier@pwswcd.org
Duane Mohr - conservationtech@pwswcd.org
For more information on our specific cost-share programs, click here.
If you're already doing everything you can on your farm to best protect the soil and water, consider signing up for a voluntary practice! Contact Nicole Slazinski - nicoleethier@pwswcd.org for more information.
Nutrient Management: An Important Message for Producers
The 2025 Chesapeake Bay cleanup goals are here, and we need every farmer's help! We need documentation of implementation of every nutrient management plan in Prince William County. Here's what you can do to help:
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Work with your nutrient management planner to develop a plan that can be implemented easily
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Keep application and yield records
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Put in place a record-keeping system so you can justify application and yield data.This must include required elements such as dates, field locations, loads, bales, bushels, gallons of manure, tons of litter, etc.
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Share this record-keeping system with your planner.
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Update your plan as changes occur on the farm.
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Be prepared at the end of the growing season to evaluate how well you were able to follow your plan.
If you have questions, please contact your nutrient management planner:
(571) 379-7514
You can also call the DCR Warrenton Regional Office at 540-351-1501 or
540-351-1570. For more information, click here.
Below are some record-keeping sheets to further assist you:
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Nutrient Management Records (All of the records above combined)
Calendar
The Board meets monthly at 8033 Ashton Avenue, Manassas,Conference Room B (due to COVID, all public meetings have been moved to 12801 Hazelwood Dr, Nokesville, VA 20181 until further notice). Citizens may have a voice in local natural resources issues by attending these meetings and taking part in District programs.
For a .pdf version of our calendar, please click here.
TRC = Technical Review Committee BOD = Board