Wendy Walsh
District Manager

Send Email

Telephone:
607-687-3553

183 Corporate Drive
Owego, NY 13827

Main Phone:
607-687-3553
Fax:
607-687-9440

 Like Us On Facebook

The role of the Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation District is to assist individual landowners, groups, and units of government with any natural resource concern that is brought before it. This may take the form of technical advice, technical assistance, or finding a solution through another entity. Please be sure to explore the menu choices below for further information about the district, it's staff, & programs.

  News & Announcements

Additional Information

The Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation District was created on November 27, 1944, and is one of the 58 Soil and Water Conservation District located in New York State.

A Board of Directors made up of representatives from Grange, the Farm Bureau, two County legislators, and an At-large member governs the District. The current Board of Directors is made up by:

  • Mark Kwiatkowski, Grange Representative
  • Tom Zorn, Farm Bureau Representative
  • Ronald Dougherty, District Treasurer, Director At Large
  • Dale Weston, Chairperson, County Legislator Representative
  • Tracy Monell, Vice-Chairperson, County Legislator Representative

The District is governed by a Board of Directors who hold monthly meetings at the Tioga County office building on every 3rd Wednesday at 9:00AM. The public is always invited to attend these meetings.

The District staff members are committed to providing technical assistance to the residents of Tioga County in the areas of soil, water, and other natural resource conservation issues.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service works closely with the SWCD on many projects and activities. NRCS employees are stationed in the USDA Service Center located at 109A Chemung Street, Waverly, NY 14892.

  • Elena Steele - District Conservationist (Tioga & Chemung Counties)
  • Erin Paczkowski – Soil Conservationist (Tioga & Chemung Counties)

Check out or most recent annual report and newsletter!

The Dean Creek Watershed Sponsors (Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation District, Tioga County Legislature, and the Town of Spencer) are working with the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to develop a dam rehabilitation plan for the Pelto and Pylkas Dams. The two dams are located on Dean Creek in Tioga County. The purpose of this study is to determine the best alternatives for rehabilitation of these two flood control structures so they will meet current NRCS and New York safety and design standards for a high hazard dam.

Below you can find copies of presentations given at public scoping meetings. 

Check out our Tioga County Dairy Tails series and visit different dairy farms throughout Tioga County!

Current Soil and Water Conservation District employment opportunities: 

  •  There currently aren't any open positions with the District, but please check back!

For more information contact Wendy Walsh at 607-687-3553 or [email protected]

 

The Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation District applied for and secured funding to complete three watershed assessments in Tioga County. The watersheds assessed were Apalachin, Wappasening, and Huntington creeks. This funding was made available through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Block Grant-Disaster Recover (CDBG-DR) for long-term recovery and resiliency projects.  Funding has been delivered through the NY Rising Community Reconstruction (NYRCR) Program of New York State Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR). In 2018, the District contracted with a consulting firm, Interfluve. The goal of these assessments was to evaluate watershed health and their impact on the communities, and to identify potential actions that can increase watershed health while reducing negative impacts on the communities. Through the assessment and reporting phase, an extensive list of potential improvement projects in each watershed was developed. A second phase of this project was to select one project in each watershed to develop conceptual design to 30% design completion. The next stage of the project is to identify the one of the 30 % design projects to move forward to implementation. This will depend on the ability of municipal or landowner matching funds, or additional grant sources.  

The District is sharing the results of the watershed assessments online to showcase the numerous projects that have been recommended throughout these watersheds to assist in mitigating the damaging effects our community continues to see by flooding and flash flooding events. With funding for these types of projects being very limited and competitive in nature, it is necessary to have support and buy in from community members, local municipalities, and county officials to make lasting and positive change. If you are interested in learning more about the projects identified in these assessments or would like to discuss assisting in an implementation plan for a project you see listed, please contact Wendy Walsh at 607-687-3553.

In addition to assisting landowners with their natural resource conservation questions the District offers many services. These include:

  • Land Classification for Ag assessment
  • Hydro-seeding (seeding critical areas, lawns)
  • No Till Drill Rental
  • Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans
  • Nutrient Analysis - Manure and Soil
  • Pond Management Advice
  • Pond Stocking Program
  • Tire Sidewall Cutter Rental
  • Tree and Shrub Seedling Conservation
  • Planting Sale
  • Water Testing
  • GIS Mapping

There is a fee for these services except for pond management advice. Orders for the Tree and Shrub seedling sale are taken from January through mid-April when the stock is distributed. The tire sidewall cutter is used so that tires used for bunk silo covers do not hold water providing a place for mosquitoes to breed. Please contact the Conservation District office for details on these programs.

All Prices Include Applicable Taxes

  • Agricultural Assessment - new $20.00 Worksheet (Non-Taxable)
  • Bat House - $20.00 House (Taxable)
  • Bluebird Box - $15.00 Box (Taxable)
  • Bird Feeder - $20.00 Box (Taxable)
  • Chickadee Box - $15.00 Box (Taxable)
  • Flicker Box - $15.00 Box (Taxable)
  • DOQ Maps - $10.00 Each (Non-Taxable)
  • Fertilizer Tablets (single tabs) - $0.10 Each (Taxable)
  • Fertilizer Tablets (1000 tabs) - $82.00 Box (Taxable)
  • GIS Maps - $10.00 Each (Non-Taxable)
  • Marking Flags (single) - $0.10 Each (Taxable)
  • Marking Flags (100) - $9.00 Bundle (Taxable)
  • No-Till Drill Rental -
    • ESCH 5507 - $50.00 set-up & delivery, Plus $15.00 per acre (Non-Taxable)
    • ESCH ESCH 5512 - $100.00 set up & delivery, Plus $20.00 per acre (Non-Taxable)
  • Post Pounder Rental - $50 per day and $50 delivery and setup (Non-Taxable)
  • Pictometry 8.5"x11" - $10.00 (Non-Taxable)
  • Pictometry 11"x17" - $20.00 (Non-Taxable)
  • Soil Surveys - $20.00 Each (Non-Taxable)
  • Soil Survey Postage - $6.00 Each (Non-Taxable)
  • GIS Topographical Maps - $10.00 Each (Non-Taxable)
  • Tree Planter Rental - $25.00 Day (Taxable)

Our 2022 Tree/Shrub order form is now available! Orders are encouraged before March to ensure species desired. If you plan to order in quantities of 100 or more, please place your order by April 1, 2022!

Order pickups will take place on:

Friday April 15, 2022, and Saturday April 16, 2022 

 

 

The Water Quality Coordinating Committee was established to help protect and conserve the water resources of Tioga County. To achieve this goal the committee uses the expertise and knowledge of its agencies as well as other local, state, and federal cooperating agencies.

Participating Agencies and Organizations -

  • Tioga County Soil & Water Conservation District
  • Tioga County Planning Department
  • Tioga County Environmental Health Department
  • Tioga County Solid Waste
  • Town of Owego
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension
  • USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service
  • NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
  • NYS Soil & Water Conservation Committee

AnnualReport2011.pdf
PDF, 669 KB

WQ.Strategy.2009.pdf
PDF, 2563 KB