*UPDATE:

All exigency practices intended to combat drought are now available to conservation districts. District supervisors must vote to approve the practices for cost-share in their specific district. The cost-share practices available to be used are water for livestock (see below), irrigation of crops, cover crops, connecting/tapping into a city water line and more.

Components eligible for cost-share for irrigating crops include: Portable water tanks, water pumps, portable pipeline, associated valves and pipe fittings, drip irrigation line, irrigation timer, and mulch. 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginians with livestock experiencing hardship due to drought conditions are eligible to receive cost-share funding to help supply water to livestock through their local conservation districts.

The components eligible for cost-share are: Portable water tanks, associated valves and fittings, water pumps, portable pipeline and portable water troughs.

To meet eligibility criteria, a portion of one county within a district must have been designated a "D1" or higher classification, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. If any county has a D1 classification or higher, then any county within that conservation district is eligible for cost-share funding through the Agricultural Enhancement Exigency Program. (A list of conservation districts and contact information is below.)     

West Virginia Conservation Agency Executive Director Judith Lyons is urging conservation district supervisors to help as many people as possible who are experiencing drought with water for their livestock. 

Each county affected is within a specific conservation district. Residents should contact the specific conservation district where they are experiencing drought. Ask to speak with the conservation district’s administrative specialist. 

• Barbour, Randolph, Taylor, Tucker and Upshur counties are in the Tygarts Valley Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 457-3026.

• Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties are within the Eastern Panhandle Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 263-4376.

• Boone, Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo and Wayne counties are within the Guyan Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 528-5718.

• Braxton, Clay, Nicholas and Webster counties are within the Elk Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 765-2535.

• Brooke, Hancock, Marshall and Ohio counties are within the Northern Panhandle Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 238-1231.

• Calhoun, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt and Wood counties are within the Little Kanawha Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 422-9088.

• Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison and Lewis counties are within the West Fork Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 627-2160.

• Fayette, McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties are in the Southern Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 253-0261.

• Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral and Pendleton counties are within the Potomac Valley Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 822-5174.

• Greenbrier, Monroe and Pocahontas counties are within the Greenbrier Valley Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 645-6173.

• Jackson, Mason and Putnam counties are in the Western Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 675-3054.

• Kanawha County is within the Capitol Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 759-0736.

• Marion, Monongalia and Preston counties are in the Monongahela Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 296-0081.

• Pleasants, Tyler and Wetzel counties are within the Upper Ohio Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 758-2512. 

The mission of the West Virginia Conservation Agency is to provide for and promote the protection and conservation of West Virginia’s soil, land, water and related resources for the health, safety and general welfare of the state’s citizens.

*(Cover Soil Photo by Maud CORREA on Unsplash.com)