The Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA is working with Amish and Plain Sect farmers in Lancaster and Chester counties to encourage them to install best management practices on their farms.  Read about these initiatives in two new CBF-PA fact sheets--

-- Lancaster County Plain Sect Farms As Clean Water Stewards-- provides a snapshot of the Buffer Bonus initiative from CBF to encourage the installation of stream buffers by Amish and Plain Sect farmers in Lancaster County.

In 2009, CBF and a host of other groups launched a program to encourage Amish and Old Order Mennonite farmers to implement projects to reduce runoff from fields and barnyards while at the same time using the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to restore forested stream buffers.

Since the inception of the program, more than forty Plain Sect farmers have used this “Buffer Bonus” option to achieve a level of conservation needed to restore the health of local streams, the Susquehanna River, and the Bay.

-- Amish and Old Order Mennonite Farms Protect Streams And The Bay-- provides an overview of a CBF initiative to work with Plain Sect farmers in Lancaster and Chester counties to install best management practices under federal Farm Bill Programs like the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).

Project results include 367 BMPs installed, 126 acres of forested buffers planted, and 48 conservation plans developed. Base funding totaled $1.5 million, but the project leveraged significant additional federal and state funding that, taken together, increased water quality benefits and cost effectiveness.

Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Fact Sheets

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation PA Office just a series of fact sheets outlining the water quality problems and solutions being implemented in the Pennsylvania portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed--

-- A Primer On Pollutants Of Concern-- outlines the contributions Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed makes to nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution to the Bay.

-- Nearly 20,000 Miles Of PA Streams Are Polluted-- details the fact there are thousands of stream miles and hundreds of acres of lakes all across Pennsylvania that are considered “impaired” under the federal Clean Water Act that either have or will require what is known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).

-- Cost Effective Solutions Are Known, Documented For The Chesapeake Bay-- notes cost effective pollution solutions have already made significant progress in reducing pollution going to the Bay, particularly in Pennsylvania.

In addition, Dr. Beth McGee, Senior Water Quality Scientist at CBF, gave a PowerPoint presentation on October 16 on the status of the Chesapeake Bay Cleanup in Pennsylvania and the challenges that remain.

NewsClips:

CBF-PA Plain Sect Initiative Hits Its Goal, More Work Needed

October 21 Chesapeake Bay Journal

Links: Update On CBF Activities In PA By Harry Campbell, PA Office Director

10/28/2013