NORWICH – The director of Chenango County Soil and Water Conservation staked out a claim with members of the Finance Committee to maintain his budget and keep funding for his staff next year.

“I have a very small staff and I lose a lot of sleep because I’m worried about keeping them,” said the department’s director, Lance Lockwood. County departments have just begun the process of budgeting for next year.

Local taxpayers support the Conservation department’s budget in total, which is $148,690 this year. Lockwood projected a zero increase in expenses. He said his department had been working diligently to bring every farm up to speed with water quality-based mandates and estimated it would take another year to do so.

In addition, because it is a non-regulatory agency, Lockwood said Soil and Water Conservation has fielded numerous questions over the past two years from farmers, energy companies and lawyers regarding natural gas wells and pipeline infrastructure.