Celebrating 35 Years!

Missouri Soil & Water 
Conservation Districts
Employees Association 

Before the Sales Tax

In the 1930's, Americans realized how devastating soil erosion could be as the Dust Bowl
swept across the nation, relocating an estimated 300 million tons of soil. 
Missouri had the highest rate of erosion in the nation, which led to the creation of
the Missouri Soil and Water Conservation Districts in 1943.
In 1982, Missouri was losing soil at a rate of 10.8 tons per acre each year on cultivated cropland.

About the Tax

The Parks, Soils and Water Sales Tax is a statewide one-tenth-of-one percent sales tax
that provides funding for Missouri state parks and historic sites & soil and water conservation efforts.
  The tax was first approved by voters in 1984 and is divided equally between the two efforts.
The Cost-Share Program shares the cost of implementing conservation practices between the state and landowners.  Each of the 114 soil and water conservation districts in Missouri receive district grants to fund technical assistance for landowners and provide information and educational programs.  The Department of Natural Resources has provided over $660 million to Missouri agricultural landowners to implement these conservation practices.

After the Tax

Revenues from the Parks, Soils and Water Sales Tax have resulted in Missouri having the greatest soil erosion reduction rate of any other state with more than 10 million acres of cultivated cropland.
  Missouri has saved more than 177 million tons of soil over the past 30 years,
due to the efforts of the Soil and Water Conservation Program.