ALAMOSA — The Colorado State Conservation Board announced the award of a $20,000 matching grant to Mosca- Hooper Conservation District to support the Aquifer Recovery/Future of Ag in the San Luis Valley-Field and Soil Observations: Fungal Rich Compost in 2020. 

The District was able to leverage funds recently received from the New Belgium Family Foundation, Community Foundation for San Benito County, Calhoun/Christiano Fund as part of the match for this particular grant. 

The focus of this next phase grant in 2020, will be to collect and correlate data where fungal rich compost has been applied and in some cases combined with cover cropping on 500 acres; conduct field days for learning; begin sharing citizen-accessible data, allowing for a greater understanding of soil health and regenerative agriculture in the region. 

The Aquifer Recovery/Future of Agriculture in the San Luis Valley is a multi-faceted, multi-year project launched in 2018 which addresses Aquifer Recovery by locating the sweet spots for recharge; soil health, data collection, analysis and communication. 

Mosca-Hooper Conservation District is a special district within the state of Colorado responsible for facilitating natural resource conservation opportunities for landowners within Alamosa County.

The District’s efforts at incentivizing soil and water conservation and soil health building practices are long-standing. 

The District also works alongside farmers and ranchers in the region to implement voluntary conservation efforts and regenerative farming practices.

Mosca-Hooper Conservation District is a member of the Rio Grande Watershed Association of Conservation Districts, and financially supports the educational work of the Rio Grande Watershed Conservation and Education Initiative (RGWCEI), and the advocacy and education work of the Colorado Association of Conservation Districts (CACD) and the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) around soil health and watershed stewardship.

Each of the above organizations assists the District to inform a broader audience of landowners, policy makers, and members of the general public about its soil health and watershed stewardship efforts.

Mosca-Hooper Conservation District (MHCD) is a county-wide district in Alamosa County, which established on June 7, 1943.

Total acreage within the District is 462,000 acres and does not include the municipalities of Alamosa or Mosca.

The mission of MHCD is to provide leadership in natural resource management for the betterment of all present and future residents of the district through education and example.