Rural Technical Assistance
Butler SWCD offers technical assistance for local residents and landowners
Drainage, whether it is coming onto your property, or running off into another property can cause several issues. Drainage issues could potentially lead to erosion or flooding of your property, or property nearby. You can call our Butler SWCD office and our natural resource specialists can come out to your property, whether it is rural or urban, and look at your water drainage issues. It is important to note that Butler SWCD can only offer technical assistance when looking at your drainage issues – we are not a regulatory agency.
Most of the erosion in our area is from water erosion. Most often erosion can be found along your pond, on a hill side or slope, near a stream bank, or where water often travels during rain events. Our natural resources specialists can come out to your property and look at your erosion problems. We can offer technical advice, give handouts, and a contractor list.
Butler SWCD can also come out and offer technical assistance with your pond. If you have a leaky pond, pond weeds, or erosion issues we can provide you with information on pond construction and maintenance. Butler SWCD also has created a pond guide that you can pick up in our office.
We also offer a pond clinic every year for the residents of Butler County and the surrounding area.
Our staff provides technical advice to landowners on how to best manage streams and drainage on the landscape.
Streams are regulated by several state and federal agencies in Ohio. Additionally, Butler County Building and Zoning Department manages local Flood Damage Prevention Regulations which limit land use adjacent to Waters of the State.
To file complaints, permit applications and submit requests to required agencies please refer to the Butler SWCD Permitting factsheet.
Butler SWCD and NRCS offer technical and engineering assistance as well as financial assistance for certain qualifying programs funded under the US Farm Bill. Qualifying programs include honeysuckle removal, grassed waterways, seasonal high tunnels, grassed buffers and filter strips, and much more.
This is a list of local contractors that you can hire for building ponds, wells, grassed waterways and more.
If you are a local company / contractor that would like to be added to this contractors list please contact us.
There are no grant funds available for cover crop seeding at this time. Please check back for future updates. Butler SWCD is still available for technical assistance and seeding recommendations for cover crops. Additionally, we have a list of cover crop seed vendors on our contractor's list. This list is not an endorsement, it is intended simply as a resource for interested residents.
Typically there are pesticide testing and recertification courses offered in Butler County on a yearly basis. Butler SWCD and OSU Extension are not repsonsible for responding to pesticide drift complaints. Drift complaints should be directed to the Ohio Department of Agriculture Pesticide Regulation Division.
In 2019 Butler SWCD hosted our first ever forestry workshop. We soon became aware that residents were more interested in forestry that expected, so became our forestry page. Click here to learn more about backyard forestry, timber harvests, timber stand improvements, and forestry pollution abatement.
Butler SWCD offers technical recommendations and basic engineering for culverts and other stream crossings. Stream crossing and ditch crossings are a basic but important function of many driveways and roads. Maintenance on these is important to preserve the functionality and safety of this common structure.
The State of Ohio reviews their noxious weed list every 5 years. Receiving input from different organizations and based on their own research they make a decision on what needs to be updated. Property owners are responsible for controlling noxious weeds on their land.
For Questions Related to Enforcement and Permissible Uses, Please Contact these Local Regulatory Authorities & Agencies:
Permitting, Erosion & Sediment Control - Butler Co. Engineers Office 513-867-5744
Property Lines & Easements - Butler Co. Engineers Office 513-867-5744
Stormwater Infrastructure (culverts, basins, storm drains etc.) - Butler Co. Engineers Office 513-867-5744
Butler County Floodplain Management - 513-887-3608
Fairfield Twp. Floodplain Management - 513-896-8169
Septic Issues & Testing - Butler Co. Health Dept. 513-863-1770
Illegal Dumping - Ohio EPA Southwest District 937-285-6357
Water Utility Issues/Billing - Butler Co. Water & Sewer 513-887-3066
Proper Waste Disposal - Butler Co. Recycling & Soil Waste Dist. 513-887-3653
Source Water Protection (Aquifer) - Groundwater Consortium 513-785-2464
Tree ID, Health & Removal - Butler Co. OSU Extension Office 513-887-3722
Air Quality/Pollution - Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency 513-946-7777
Trespassing, Fire, Emergency - 911