The Deer Creek Conservation District publishes a quarterly newsletter in-house to keep its cooperators up to date on district activities and provide information on sign-up periods and programs such as state cost-share, EQIP, CSP and no-till incentives.
If you are not currently on DCCD’s mailing list, and would like to receive the district newsletter, contact the office at (580) 772-7670 or deercreekcd@conservation.ok.gov
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Deer Creek Conservation District has three flood control dams in its boundaries. rehabilitation work on Cobb Creek Site 2 is complete. It is located northwest of Colony. Cobb Creek Site 1, which is Crowder Lake south of Weatherford, had rehabilitation completed in 2012. Cobb Creek Site 3 is still in the planning stages.
Today many dams are in a far different setting than when they were originally constructed. Population has grown; residential and commercial development has occurred both upstream and downstream from dams; land uses have changed; sediment pools have filled; and concrete and metal components have deteriorated. Today some dams do not meet current dam safety regulations that have been enacted and revised with more stringent requirements than when the dams were built.
Before the year 2000, the Natural Resources Conservation Service did not have the authority to provide technical assistance to watershed project sponsors in rehabilitating aging dams. Watershed project sponsors (in most cases conservation districts) do not have adequate funds to rehabilitate the dams. Congress passed the Watershed Rehabilitation Amendments of 2000, (authored by Congressman Frank Lucas, Cheyenne, Oklahoma) amending the Watershed Protection and Flood Control Act, to authorize the NRCS to provide technical and financial assistance to project sponsors in rehabilitating the dams. The purpose of rehabilitation is to extend the service life of the dams and bring them into compliance with applicable safety and performance standards or to decommission the dams so they no longer pose a threat to life and property.
FARM to FOOD BANK PROJECT
Shane O’Daniel, previous Deer Creek director, and his son Hunter, Weatherford FFA student, recently planted a mixture of vegetables to be donated to the Weatherford Food and Resource Center. This project utilizes cover crop practices that improve the health of the soil while producing edible vegetables. The Farm to Food Bank project sponsors include: Oklahoma Conservation Commission, Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Weatherford Food and Resource Center, and Deer Creek Conservation District.
Director Larry Wright attended the Southern Soil Health Conference in Wichita Falls, TX to learn more on soil health.
