Native Buffer Cost-Share Program

The Native Buffer Program is a voluntary program that encourages the creation of high quality shoreland and streambank buffers that protect water quality within the Little Rock Lake Watershed.  A shoreland buffer is a naturally vegetated plot of land, located between the water's edge (lake, stream or wetland) and the land uphill.  A shoreland buffer can be composed of a mix of native aquatic plants, grasses, wildflowers and/or shrubs and trees.  Basically, it is undisturbed land at your shoreline; this means that your lakeshore would not be mowed or manicured into a sand beach. 

Shoreland buffers provide benefits to people, the environment, wildlife, and aquatic life.  Restored vegetation at the lake's edge restores the function of the ecosystem which originally protected the lake before it was altered by humans.  Some of the benefits of a buffer include: filtering of pollutants such as sediment and phosphorous out of runoff from uphill land uses, prevent shoreline erosion by holding soil in place (native plants have deep root systems), provide habitat for wildlife, deter geese from congregating on the lakeshore, and they allow for more leisure time to relax and enjoy the nature of life at the lakeshore. 

The Benton SWCD currently has funding available to assist Little Rock Lake (and watershed) residents with buffer design and cost-share of up to 75% of the total project cost.  However, the funding is limited and available on a first come-first serve basis.

Native Buffer Program contracts are for 15 years from the date the agreement is signed.  Planting must be done with local ecotype seed with a goal of 25 species per site.  For buffer cost-share very minimal grading is allowed.

All projects are approved for cost-share by the Benton SWCD Board of Supervisors and cost-share reimbursements are provided after the project is complete. 

The pictures above are before and after pictures of Jim Hovda's Lakeshore Restoration Project located on Little Rock Lake.