The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) this week proposed a new program, Farming for Clean Water, to provide critical funding to reduce pollution from agriculture. The new initiative calls for the annual investment of $31 million to help farmers reduce pollution from animal waste.

The program is designed to support Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener II proposal, which provides critical environmental funding that will expand and extend the Commonwealth’s investments in environmental conservation, restoration, and community development.

Recently, the Green Ribbon Commission convened their first meeting to discuss the future of environmental funding in Pennsylvania, and specifically to evaluate the Growing Greener II proposal. While encompassing a critical set of programs, Growing Greener II fails to address pollution from animal waste, one of the top water quality issues for the state and the Chesapeake region. In response, CBF developed Farming for Clean Water to bolster efforts to protect water quality and maintain Pennsylvania’s vibrant agricultural economy.

“Farming for Clean Water will provide farmers with assistance to implement the most cost-effective practices available to reduce pollution, and improve water quality in our streams and rivers,” said CBF Pennsylvania Executive Director Matt Ehrhart. “Agriculture is one of the most important economic engines for the Commonwealth, and this program will help farmers reduce pollution while protecting the economic viability of our family farms.”

In addition to Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) support and agricultural preservation funding currently proposed in the Growing Greener II initiative, the Farming for Clean Water proposal will reduce pollution from animal waste by: Promoting alternative use of manure; Improving livestock feed efficiency; Funding barnyard renovations for near-stream barnyards; Providing incentives for cover crops;

Promoting rotational grazing conversion; and Providing grant program to support innovative agricultural technologies.

With nearly 4,000 miles of Pennsylvania streams impaired by agricultural pollution, CBF’s Farming for Clean Water program will:

· Provide clean water for recreation, municipal drinking water, and improved human and animal health;

· Assist farmers and the Commonwealth to maintain economic viability;

· Leverage federal and private funding for conservation and agriculture; and

· Help Pennsylvania meet Clean Water Act obligations and Chesapeake 2000 commitments.

"We strongly encourage legislators to support the Farming for Clean Water proposal as a critical component of the state’s environmental protection needs and economic development initiatives," said Ehrhart.

"As the CEO of US Landcare Inc., I fully support efforts which recognize agricultural progress in conservation and sustainablity, and in addition offer landowners technical resources to continue to make meaningful stewardship progress within a watershed strategic plan. Growing Greener has been and needs to continue to be an effective tool toward this end," said Michael Brubaker a respected leader and innovator in Pennsylvania agriculture.

The states of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established a partnership in 1983 and entered into an agreement providing for the protection and restoration of local streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Chesapeake 2000, the latest agreement, provides a blueprint for the next decade, establishing goals and objectives that will ensure a system with abundant, diverse populations of living resources, healthy streams and rivers, and a sustainable quality of life for all those in the watershed

"Pennsylvania’s role in achieving the goals set forth in Chesapeake 2000 must include bold restoration and protection initiatives and provide adequate funding for these initiatives," said Ehrhart. "With the Farming for Clean Water proposal, CBF is honing in on the most efficient and cost effective way to address agricultural water quality issues and to help keep agriculture as a viable part of Pennsylvania’s economic landscape," said Ehrhart.

10/15/2004