§3411. Congressional statement of findings
Congress finds that-
(1) studies by the Department of Agriculture indicate that billions of tons of soil are eroded annually from non-Federal lands in the United States, much of which represents soil eroded from cropland;
(2) nearly one-half of the four hundred and thirteen million acres of cropland have soils with moderate, high, or very high risk of damage by sheet and rill erosion;
(3) the severity of erosion-related problems varies widely from one geographic area to the next;
(4) some of the most productive agricultural areas of the United States are also those having the most serious and chronic erosion-related problems;
(5) solutions to such chronic erosion-related problems should be designed to address the local social, economic, environmental, and other conditions unique to the area involved to ensure that the goals and policies of the Federal Government are effectively integrated with the concerns of the local community;
(6) certain range and pasturelands in the United States are producing less than their potential and therefore their productive capacity could be substantially improved by application of intensified range and pasture management practices; the protection of these lands is essential to controlling erosion, improving ecological conditions, enhancing wildlife and riparian habitats, improving water quality and yield, and meeting the need to produce food and fiber in a manner that is more energy efficient; and
(7) there is a need for-
(A) reducing seepage from on-farm and off-farm irrigation ditches and conveyance systems;
(B) improving water conservation and utilization; and
(C) installing measures to capture on-farm irrigation return flows.
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