The Watershed Investigation and Repair Crew (WIRC) was designed, approved and implemented in the late fall of 2017 to perform real time responses to urgent assistance requests from Watershed Agricultural Program (WAP) participants addressing potential water quality threats within the West of Hudson Watershed region.
The WIRC staff provides safe investigations of in field issues, potential recourse concerns of non-functioning Best Management Practices (BMPs) working directly with participants and WAP staff to rectify these issues. This can be done through enhanced education and support of the proper operation and maintenance (O&M) or function of a BMP, or through modifications to the structural BMP. If BMPs are deemed to be operated as intended and have failed or are not functioning as designed and expected, a repair may be approved. If the failure is creating a water quality concern or has negative effects on the performance of the BMP or farm’s operation, then the pending repair may be deemed an Emergency Repair for immediate attention.
The crew is comprised of one to two existing WAP full time employees whom have received proper training and certifications to perform these in field hands on tasks.
Another major goal of the WIRC is to provide quick, efficient and detailed procurement with a timely repair response to failing BMPs at a fraction of the cost as seen by our local contractors offering past similar repairs.
2021 WIRC Stats: Fourth Year of Operation •• 192 BMP Investigations •• 40 No Cost Repairs/Support •• 60 Structural Repairs of existing BMPs
Read more from the 2021 Annual Report here.
