NRCS Practice Standard: Pumping Plant (533)

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NRCS Practice Standard: Pumping Plant (533)

About the Company:

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s primary private lands conservation agency. The NRCS helps producers protect and conserve natural resources on private lands through voluntary conservation programs. Through Practice Standards and technical guides, the NRCS provides information about the conservation, energy resources, and provides personalized advice to individual producers.

The NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides technical and financial assistance to producers as they implement NRCS Conservation Practice Standards.

Technical guides used in each field office are localized so that they apply specifically to the geographic area for which they are prepared. Thus, while national guidelines have been provided as a framework for each standard, each state has adopted and modified the conservation practice standards to suit their individual landscape.

To find a local NRCS Service center click here.

To find the specific guideline for each state click here.

About the Solution:

Pumping plant (Code 533)

A pumping plant is a facility that delivers water at a designed pressure and flow rate to meet a conservation need. Components of the facility include the required pump, associated power unit, plumbing, and necessary appurtenances. It also may include onsite fuel or energy sources and protective structures.

Practice Information

A pumping plant may be installed for a wide variety of conservation purposes. This includes, but is not limited to, delivery of water for irrigation or livestock water, reduced energy use, maintenance of critical water levels in wetland sites, transfer of wastewater for utilization as part of a waste management system, and facilitation of drainage by removal of surface runoff or groundwater.

The power supply for a pumping plant may come from line power, fossil fuel, photovoltaic panels, windmills, or water-powered pumps (hydraulic rams). To improve air quality, see NRCS Conservation Practice Standard Combustion System Improvement (Code 372).

When planning the installation of a pumping plant, consideration must be given to the potential effects on ground and surface water from water removal or delivery. Other things to consider include ways to protect the pumping plant from freezing, flooding, vandalism, and other events.

This practice has a minimum expected life of 15 years. Operation requirements for the facility will depend upon the type of system chosen by the operator. Maintenance will include routine testing and inspection of the components, removal of debris, protection against freezing, and periodic inspection of safety features.

Common Associated Practices

NRCS Conservation Practice Standard (CPS) Pumping Plant (Code 533) is commonly applied with conservation practices such as:

  • Water Well (Code 642)
  • Waste Transfer (Code 634)
  • Drainage Water Management (Code 554)


  • To view the national NRCS standard Pumping Plant please click here.

    Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, DC United States 1-833-ONE-USDA Visit Company Website

    Solution Type

    • General Support and Other

    Vendor

    • Others

    Product

    • Other

    To view additional information about this vendor, click below.

    Solution Strengths, Weaknesses and Critical Indicators

    NOTE: There are multiple technologies that are used as part of integrated manure management systems and yet are not manure management types on their own. The impact of these technologies on their own would be minimal or very difficult to quantify.

    General Support & Other:

    • Can be an integral part of many manure management systems
    • Most projects have at least some equipment that supports operations of the main technology
    • This technology is not evaluated on its own, the NEAT Matrix for this technology is neutral unless utilized with other technologies.

    Newtrient Comments/Opinions:

    Newtrient is using the USDA-NRCS conservation practice standards as tools to assist dairy producers in understanding the standards and how they can be used to address resources concerns.

    To establish a Practice Standard a system or practice must be thoroughly vetted, approved, and standardized by the USDA at the federal and state level. These conservation practices have been developed to address various environmental resource concerns. Newtrient has developed a 9-point scoring process for ranking additives, practices, services, and technologies for the dairy industry. Recognizing the rigorous approval procedure used during the development of the NRCS Practice Standards, many of them score very highly and are worthy of consideration on any dairy where they apply.

    The information provided here is a summary of the selected conservation practices. For up to date and detailed information related to the full Practice Standards, please see the USDA NRCS website, linked above.

    Newtrient 9-Point Scoring Rating

    View the Scoring Page

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