By Nicole Santangelo, Walt Whitmer, Kathryn Brasier, Johathan Laughner, Virginia Ishler and Weston Eaton Penn State Extension

The Water4Ag project, a partnership and USDA-funded research project set out 3 years ago to create local groups willing to address water and agriculture challenges in their region.

Five sites were established in Pennsylvania, Nebraska, and Arizona. Each tasked with bringing diverse stakeholders together in their communities to look at challenges and solutions to water quantity and quality issues.

In Pennsylvania, the two sites were Mifflin County and Upper Cowanesque and Triple Divide in Potter and Tioga Counties. Each group is successful in their own right; these are their major accomplishments to date in Pennsylvania:

-- Secured funding through USGS to update equipment and conduct extensive water sampling in the region

-- Surveyed the local community and farmers about the challenges, barriers, knowledge, and opportunities in the water and agriculture arena

-- Started communication with the community about successes and what each of them can do to contribute to improved water

-- Conducted double cropping research project with farmer cooperators and best management practices modeling project

-- Created workshops and fact sheets to share cover crop, double cropping, and precision feeding information

-- Created a Storyboard to showcase water in each region--  Mifflin County

-- Contributed to the WIP3 [Chesapeake Bay Watershed] planning process

As the grant comes to an end, each group has decided how their efforts will continue in their region.

In Potter-Tioga, tasks are focused on recent flooding events and continued water monitoring.

In Mifflin County, the local leadership team has actively engaged in assisting with developing a county-based Watershed Implementation Plan and is currently developing an outreach plan to ensure the continued engagement of producers, agencies, and municipalities.

The LLT members have also been reflecting on their experiences with the project and providing valuable insights about how to effectively conduct similar stakeholder engagement efforts related to water and agriculture issues.

More information on the groups can be found at the Water for Ag website.

(Photo: Water monitoring, Potter County Conservation District.)

(Reprinted from Penn State Extension Watershed Winds newsletter.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

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[Posted: September 20, 2021]

9/27/2021