Organization and History of the East Side
Soil & Water Conservation District
Soil & Water Conservation District
The East Side Soil and Water Conservation District was officially organized July 22, 1948. It encompassed nearly 959,719 acres east of the Snake River in Bonneville County, and currently has over 1,007,521.0 acres. Grain, potatoes, and alfalfa are the major agricultural crops in the district. Beef and dairy cattle are also important to the area’s agriculture.
Powell Fullerton of Idaho Falls was the first Chairman of the East Side SCD, William Hatch, John Parker, George Grubb and Earl Wolfley served alongside him as Board Members. These men identified the two most pressing conservation problems in the District: irrigation water management, and soil and water conservation on dry land farms, these needs guided the SCD’s early programs.
Significant accomplishments were made during the SCD’s first 5 years: strip cropping was applied on 220 acres; 3,253 acres of irrigated land was leveled; irrigation systems were installed on 2,787 acres; 474 acres of land were irrigated for the first time; and landowners and users signed 296 agreements for conservation planning and work.
During the same time, torrential summer storms and spring flooding severely eroded dry land acres. Public support for flood control measures increased, particularly in the Willow Creek and Sand Creek watersheds.
The love of the land, concern over loss of precious topsoil, and a desire to preserve the land for future generations spurred the first Supervisors to give so much of their time and effort to establish the East Side SWD. These same beliefs still drives the current Supervisors to continue to follow in their footsteps.
Dry land erosion was a major concern to the first supervisors and remains a top concern today 64 years later. Erosion robs the land of fertile topsoil and can also cause water pollution. Starting with the 1981 Willow Creek water quality planning project, The East Side SWCD has made great strides to control water pollution from agriculture land; this project established the East Side SWCD as a State Leader in agricultural water pollution control. The East Side Supervisors choose a voluntary compliance program, accepted personal responsibility for contracting landowners to participate in the Willow Creek project which generated strong support and interest among local landowners, with other state funded projects following with the Badger Creek Project in 1982, and Meadow Creek and Tex Creek in 1983. Other Federal funded projects followed, which earned the East Side SWCD a Superior Service award from the Environmental Protection Agency in 1983, for development and carrying out a nationally recognized water pollution control program.
The East Side SWCD continues to be a leader in dry land conservation during its 64 year history, as well as planting trees for windbreaks and wildlife habitat in cooperation with the Department of Fish and Game, East Side SWCD sponsored a Recourse Conservation Development project on the Blacktail Recreation Road, a flood control project in the Upper Sand Creek watershed, a Land Conservation pilot project to revegetate highly erosive slopes, and installation of new State of the Art Fish Ladders and stream bank protection to provide better irrigation for land owners and protect the Yellowstone cut throat and allow them to return to their native area for spawning, as well as Solar Powered irrigation head gates and diversion dams.
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Powell Fullerton of Idaho Falls was the first Chairman of the East Side SCD, William Hatch, John Parker, George Grubb and Earl Wolfley served alongside him as Board Members. These men identified the two most pressing conservation problems in the District: irrigation water management, and soil and water conservation on dry land farms, these needs guided the SCD’s early programs.
Significant accomplishments were made during the SCD’s first 5 years: strip cropping was applied on 220 acres; 3,253 acres of irrigated land was leveled; irrigation systems were installed on 2,787 acres; 474 acres of land were irrigated for the first time; and landowners and users signed 296 agreements for conservation planning and work.
During the same time, torrential summer storms and spring flooding severely eroded dry land acres. Public support for flood control measures increased, particularly in the Willow Creek and Sand Creek watersheds.
The love of the land, concern over loss of precious topsoil, and a desire to preserve the land for future generations spurred the first Supervisors to give so much of their time and effort to establish the East Side SWD. These same beliefs still drives the current Supervisors to continue to follow in their footsteps.
Dry land erosion was a major concern to the first supervisors and remains a top concern today 64 years later. Erosion robs the land of fertile topsoil and can also cause water pollution. Starting with the 1981 Willow Creek water quality planning project, The East Side SWCD has made great strides to control water pollution from agriculture land; this project established the East Side SWCD as a State Leader in agricultural water pollution control. The East Side Supervisors choose a voluntary compliance program, accepted personal responsibility for contracting landowners to participate in the Willow Creek project which generated strong support and interest among local landowners, with other state funded projects following with the Badger Creek Project in 1982, and Meadow Creek and Tex Creek in 1983. Other Federal funded projects followed, which earned the East Side SWCD a Superior Service award from the Environmental Protection Agency in 1983, for development and carrying out a nationally recognized water pollution control program.
The East Side SWCD continues to be a leader in dry land conservation during its 64 year history, as well as planting trees for windbreaks and wildlife habitat in cooperation with the Department of Fish and Game, East Side SWCD sponsored a Recourse Conservation Development project on the Blacktail Recreation Road, a flood control project in the Upper Sand Creek watershed, a Land Conservation pilot project to revegetate highly erosive slopes, and installation of new State of the Art Fish Ladders and stream bank protection to provide better irrigation for land owners and protect the Yellowstone cut throat and allow them to return to their native area for spawning, as well as Solar Powered irrigation head gates and diversion dams.
edit.
