South Dakota’s governor signed a bill that would encourage people to install buffer strips between agricultural land and waterways.
Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed the bill Wednesday. It passed both chambers with bipartisan support last month following a veto of a similar bill in 2016.
Daugaard says it was the work last year of a now-retired State Senator from Revillo that made this bill possible
Republican Rep. Mary Duvall supported the measure. She says buffer strips are important to help improve water quality throughout South Dakota.
The bill offers property tax breaks for those who turn land into buffer strips of vegetation to help trap fertilizer, pesticide and sediment before they reach water.
It allows for 50- to 120-foot buffers along 575 lakes and roughly 11,000 miles of streams in South Dakota.
(KWAT)