GEORGETOWN, Del., Dec. 15, 2005 – The Sussex Conservation District recently recognized Sussex County Council for its continued support of the agency’s mission to conserve soil and water resources.

Earlier this month, the conservation district presented the county with an award for 2005 in appreciation of its “continued effort and devotion to soil and water conservation.” Sussex County Council President Finley B. Jones Jr., on behalf of the county, received the award at a conservation district dinner held Dec. 1.

“I am pleased that the Sussex Conservation District has recognized the Sussex County Council for our continued record of cooperation,” said County Administrator Robert L. Stickels. “That cooperation translates into tremendous benefits for the citizens and the environment of Sussex County.”

With development continuing in Sussex County and throughout Delaware, that relationship is imperative, Mr. Stickels said. The Sussex Conservation District serves as an integral part of the development review process, from signing off on all storm water management plans for site disturbances greater than 5,000 square feet to maintaining the 1,400 miles of tax ditches draining the land throughout the county.

The conservation district also provides technical and financial assistance to the farming community for the development of nutrient management plans, and offers conservation planning.

The cooperative spirit between the council and the conservation district in recent years has paid off, quite literally, in the form of $100,000 matching contributions from the county and the Delaware General Assembly.

Debbie Absher, district coordinator for the conservation district, said Sussex County government was deserving of the recognition because “the County Council has always been a big supporter of the district, especially in the last couple of years by stepping up to the plate to help the citizens of Sussex County.”

It was during an April 2004 meeting with state lawmakers to illustrate the need for more funding, particularly for the maintenance of tax ditches, that County Administrator Stickels suggested the state and counties share in matching increases for the conservation district. From that came a commitment by the legislature and the county to increase funding in subsequent budgets.

Sussex County this fall presented the conservation district with a check that included the $100,000 increase, which will go toward cleaning and maintaining drainage tax ditches in the county. The state matched that contribution with an additional $100,000.

“Without the county stepping up, all of this might not have happened,” Absher said.