Conservation districts say without funds, they need help

Even if you escaped the recent flooding, you've likely seen or heard of the vast damage dirty, torrential river and sewer water wrought on many a basement and home.

That flooding could be far worse if it weren't for the 98 soil and water conservation districts dotting the state of Illinois, say district supporters, who warn they face a fiscal crisis that could lead to even more dire flooding in the future.

Already dirt poor at the start of this fiscal year, the organizations charged with flood mitigation, protecting water sources from contamination, preserving farm soil and conserving natural areas for wildlife are struggling to even exist.

The state has, again, failed to provide expected funding. To survive and do the job they are meant to do, the conservation districts say the only solution appears to be a new tax for Illinois residents that would raise not just enough money to survive, but also to appease lawmakers who may not know they exist.

Without that money, taxpayers may end up footing the court costs of breach-of-contract lawsuits the conservation districts fear are on the way for work they simply won't be able to do.

"The districts won't cease to exist," said Richard Nichols, executive director of the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts. "The directors are locally elected. But if they lose their staff, many of the districts have agreements and contracts where the work needs to be fulfilled. That may fall on the shoulders of the directors.

"If it comes to that, we fear there may be a mass resignation of directors, and we don't really know what would happen if that were to occur."

Why would taxpayers even consider paying more?

Consider the consequences of events such as that faced by the Kane-DuPage County Soil & Water Conservation District during recent Elgin Toll Plaza construction on the Jane Addams Tollway. Without the district's intervention, the clear waters of Jelkes Creek would have turned into a muddy mess.

District employees found on inspecting initial construction work that miles of ditches near the toll plaza had almost no preventive measures in place to block mud and garbage from being swept into a tributary of Jelkes Creek during every rainfall. Indeed, before vegetation could be planted to provide a more permanent remedy, a deluge of rain sent tons of mud cascading into the tributary, causing flooding in several areas downstream.

The tollway was required to clean it up and put in better embankment stabilization to keep property owners downstream from getting flooded again for the same reason.

In other words, without the conservation districts in place, rainfall like the recent downpours would be a much larger problem for property owners and natural areas. But it's a race against time and money to ensure the districts aren't washed away by a flood of state budget funding cuts.

In the suburbs, the districts spend much of their time monitoring construction practices that result in soil washing away, never to return, and the use of fertilizer and pesticide in yards that contaminate rivers and drinking water. In the rural areas, districts focus on flood protection and the infiltration of manure into water sources.

In the city, districts focus on the abundant loss of plant and animal habitats, threatening the ecosystem and damaging air and water quality.

The 2008 fiscal year closed at the end of June with state budget funds rolling in just in time to save the day. The last-minute cash allowed most of the districts to pay off loans they took out, or replenish the rainy day funds they depleted to survive.

This year, the funding issue is more dire.

The 2009 fiscal year began July 1 with no line item in the state budget to fund the conservation districts. Also gone was the money that provided health care coverage to the 250 soil and water conservation district employees.

Lack of timely funding already caused the Kane-DuPage County Soil & Water Conservation District to lay off some employees last year. This year, the remaining employees are banding together with districts in Lake, McHenry, Cook and Will Counties and areas adjoining them to create one voice they hope will echo in the ears of their lawmakers.

"We are all in the same boat, and my way of thinking is the boat's got a hole in it; we all need to grab a bucket," said Tracey Waite, manager of the district's St. Charles office.

"We went to the legislature last year and told them what we can do for the state and how important we are. We'll tell them again, and we'll continue to tell them until they understand."

The reason it's so hard to squeeze funding out of the state to preserve all the functions the districts provide may relate to the fact that the bulk of the benefits don't occur where the bulk of the votes are.

Nichols admitted there isn't much, if any, soil and water conservation district activity in the middle of Chicago. Conservation work in the city is much more expensive than in rural or suburban areas because of land prices.

The only way for districts to do more work in the city is to not just survive this year, but get even more funding than they have in the past, Nichols said.

To get that money, and votes, conservation districts plan to pitch the creation of a new tax to lawmakers during the November veto session. The tax would be levied on the public at large and generate about $30 million a year to fund all 98 districts. That's well beyond the $7.4 million the districts had typically received in the state budget.

"We're not naive enough to think this will be easy," Nichols said. "But we just didn't feel it was reasonable to target just a single segment of society with a new fee or tax. These conservation districts benefit everybody in one way or another. But when it comes to organizations that will be looking for funding in the veto session, we're at the end of a very, very long line."