Farmers receive first H2Ohio incentive payments

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Initial payments are going out to farmers enrolled in Gov. Mike DeWine’s H2Ohio Initiative for improved water quality. The first incentive payments will be distributed to 154 farmers for completed and approved Voluntary Nutrient Management Plans.

Through the H2Ohio program, farmers receive incentive payments for implementing proven conservation practices to help reduce phosphorus runoff. A completed and approved nutrient management plan is one of the seven identified practices and is required for all farmers enrolled in the program.

Local soil and water conservation district boards must review and approve plans before incentive payments are distributed. Of the 14 counties involved in H2Ohio, Putnam, Hancock and Auglaize soil and water district boards have approved 154 plans, which include 98,000 acres, totaling approximately $197,000 in payments.

Remaining boards will continue to meet throughout the spring to approve plans and allocate payments.

“The Voluntary Nutrient Management Plans are an important component of our H2Ohio initiative because they lay the groundwork to begin to reverse the serious water quality issues in Lake Erie,” DeWine said.

The nutrient management plans provide a base to build other best management practices on. An approved plan uses current soil tests based on realistic crop yields to determine if additional nutrients are needed. Using nutrient management plans allows farmers to implement conservation practices that best fit their cropland.

In 2020, 1,750 farmers enrolled more than 1,080,000 acres of cropland in nutrient management plans in the targeted 14 counties within the Western Lake Erie Basin in the H2Ohio Program.

DeWine launched H2Ohio in 2019 as a long term, data driven water quality plan to reduce harmful algal blooms, improve wastewater infrastructure and address lead contamination in Ohio. The initiative is the first comprehensive state program that addresses all aspects of water quality.