Local soil and water conservation districts responsible for statewide projects from erosion control to keeping farm chemicals out of water supplies are the latest to be hit by Illinois' budget deadlock.

 

Workers at smaller offices have been laid off or lost health insurance, said Kelly Thompson, executive director of the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts in Springfield. Districts also have stopped processing farmer and landowner applications for federally funded soil and water conservation projects that require state matching funds.

 

Thompson said local districts received approximately $5 million through the Illinois Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ended June 30.

 

"This year, there's no budget," she said.

 

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