News & Notes December 2000

Conservation Profile: Bill Bowers,
State Conservation Engineer, USDA — NRCS

Bill Bowers, the State Conservation Engineer of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), has led a distinguished career as a conservation professional for 31 years. During that time he has seen a world of progress made in the field of conservation- both in professional and public sectors.

“I’ve always been a firm believer in the stewardship of our land and water and working with NRCS you get to be a part of this,” Bowers said. “I’ve known since high school, from being in 4-H, that I liked being outside, I liked being involved with the agricultural community and I’ve been able to do that here.”

Janet Oertly of the NRCS explained that, “In his position, he directs the entire engineering program for the state and has supervision of the watershed program – both are key areas to conservation work in the state.” Bowers is also involved with the engineering of Best Management Practices for abandoned mine drainage remediation and for animal waste systems.

“He’s continually looking for creative and innovative solutions for addressing resource concerns,” Oertly said. “One of the great things about him is that he is willing to think outside of the box and to keep an open mind about some rather innovative approaches.”

Bowers said he has always enjoyed the technical aspect of conservation work. During his day-to-day activities, Bowers deals with situations such as how to stabilize a waterway or how to curb barnyard runoff in an economical manner. He and his engineering staff are responsible for setting the conservation practice standards used by field technicians from NRCS and the conservation districts. As state engineer, Bowers has responsibility for several conservation programs throughout Pennsylvania, such as the Small Watersheds Program (PL-566).

Water quality in streams, such as Somerset County’s Stony Creek and Westmoreland County’s Monastery Run, has been drastically improved since the Small Watersheds Program began. In November 1993, under Bowers’ supervision, NRCS partnered with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to take on an acid mine drainage remediation project on Oven Run, within the Stony Creek Watershed. According to NRCS Conservation Engineer Tim Murphy, the project set the standard for several abandoned mine reclamation projects in Western Pennsylvania and has proven to substantially improve water quality.

“Since the Oven Run project has been underway, there has been significant improvements in the watershed,” Murphy said. “There are now fish is sections of Stony Creek that haven’t been there for decades.” In the time since the Oven Run project has begun, at least a half dozen additional Abandoned Mine Drainage remediation projects have also been started in Western Pennsylvania. In Eastern Pennsylvania, Bowers has been involved with watershed improvement projects at Chester County’s Red and White Clay creeks, and Berks County’s Tulpehocken Creek.

The various watershed improvement projects that Bowers has supervised typically consist of a combination of land treatment, manure management practices and stream bank stabilization. In watersheds where abandoned mine drainage is prevalent, passive treatment systems such as Sustaining Alkaline Producing Systems and constructed wetlands are installed to intercept contaminated water before it enters a waterway.

In addition to his involvement with the Small Watersheds Program, the state engineer and engineering staff provide specifications that conservation field technicians will use as their guidelines when they design a plan for a landowner. This creates a uniform standard to be used across the state. “It’s an advantage to have the same standards across the state. It’s also extremely important to know that we have designs that work," said Bowers. “Projects need to be designed that are technically correct and practical for the landowner.”

Bowers is responsible for the supervision of statewide engineering programs within the Conservation Partnership, a collaboration of state and national agencies and organizations dedicated to providing quality leadership and service for conserving natural resources. He also has helped with organization of several conservation training efforts, such as the Conservation Boot Camp.

“I enjoy the training aspect of the job. I encourage our staff to spread the news, to show young people what they know, to help them to use their best judgment and to get things done,” Bowers said. “Soil conservation isn’t rocket science. But to do the job right you need to use good, sound judgment and apply it to these real-life situations we face in the field.”

He said that it’s necessary to induct new conservation professionals to the field with a balance of both classroom and on-site training. “Obviously, there is world of information that a young person simply can’t understand by being in a classroom. But at the same time, there are certain scenarios that might not occur frequently, and all they’ll have to go on is what was taught in the classroom,” Bowers said. “When you’re working with a client, you need to give sound technical assistance. In this field, you live on your reputation and quality information is extremely important.”

Bowers sites abandoned mine drainage and agricultural conservation as his primary areas of interest and takes pride in the improvements that have been made in these areas during the last three decades.

“Living in the Western part of the state you see how big of a problem this (abandoned mine drainage) really is,” Bowers said, “But through passive treatment systems, we’re making real progress.” He also has played a major role in developing nutrient management regulations and criteria for the installation of Best Management Practices.

Presently he is involved with efforts to find affordable methods to control odor on farmland. In years to come, Bowers said, “I want to see Pennsylvania agriculture remain economically competitive and environmentally sensitive.”

Doug Goodlaner, of the State Conservation Commission (SCC), has worked extensively with Bowers on a joint SCC/NRCS contract to provide engineering assistance to the Nutrient Management Program. Goodlander said, “He’s the type of person who is very concerned with getting the job done, and making sure it gets done the right way.”

“Bill’s been involved with Nutrient Management from the beginning,” Goodlander said. “He has helped to promote the need for BMPs and to explain how BMPs need to be installed so that they are practical to the farmer and still protective of water quality.”

“There have been some great steps taken in the time since I came on board at NRCS,” Bowers said. “I started here during the year of the first earth day and it’s hard to grasp how far we’ve come since then. A lot of it comes from the conservation district movement and the efforts of the Conservation Partnership. Citizen participation and local involvement continue to grow, as does the general public’s interest in environmental issues."

Page 4>