Agriculture and Water Resources in the Shermans Creek Watershed

by Vallie Lewis and Claire Foster

Best Management Practices
Resources: Informational Resources, Funding Resources

Farming is one of the major land uses in the Shermans Creek Watershed. Farms across America provide communities here and throughout the world with the food we need to survive. On a per acre basis, agriculture has less impact on our water resources than other land uses such as urban and residential areas. However, the fact that so much land is used for agriculture contributes to the recognition that the ways in which we use land to produce food can have an impact on our water resources. Some of the impacts agriculture can have on freshwater streams, such as Shermans Creek and its tributaries, include higher nutrient levels, increased sediments, erosion of stream banks, loss of habitat and introduction of pesticides into the aquatic system.. For more information about these effects, please visit the EPA web site describing Pollutants That Cause Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution:
http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/MMGI/Chapter2/ch2-1.html#Pollutants

Agriculture is not the only land use contributing to these impacts. Other areas include suburban lawns, golf courses and industrial or municipal facilities such as waste water treatment plants. Every land owner has a part to play in reducing the negative impacts of land use on water resources. Here are some things you can do.

10 Ways to Prevent Nutrient Pollution:

1. Limit your fertilizer use and apply at appropriate times. Nutrients in chemical fertilizers can runoff yards into local waterways and eventually drain into the Chesapeake Bay. If you must fertilize, always follow the application instructions. Never over fertilize.
2. "BayScape" your yard. (put in link for Alliance For Chesapeake Bay)
3. Control runoff and soil erosion. Reducing erosion and preventing runoff will reduce the amount of sediments and nutrients entering the watershed.
4. Start a compost pile and recycle yard waste. This will minimize the amount of trash your household produces. The compost can also serve as a natural fertilizer for your lawn.
5. Conserve water and energy. The more water we use, the more we must treat either through septic systems or water treatment plants. Repair leaking faucets, install low-flow faucets and toilets, only wash full loads of laundry.
6. Plant trees. Trees filter polluted runoff, reduce soil erosion, and control runoff from your yard.
7. Maintain your septic system. Without regular pumping, septic tanks can fail, which not only harms the environment but can also contaminate drinking wells.
8. Drive less. Reducing the amount of miles driven means fewer polluting emissions. Nitrogen oxides from fossil fuel combustion are a major source of nitrogen entering the Bay.
9. Be a responsible boater and pump out wastes. Raw sewage causes pollution that harms human and aquatic health.
10. Get involved!!! Each of us living in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are within minutes of one of the streams, creeks, and rivers that eventually drain into the Bay. Today, more than 15 million people live, work, and play in the watershed. If we all commit to altering our behavior to protect our environment, it will make a difference
    From: The Chesapeake Bay Program, http://www.chesapeakebay.net/info/nutr2.cfm#NRGoal

Agricultural Best Management Practices

In addition to these steps, farmers can make management decisions to lesson the impact of agricultural land use on streams. Several techniques have been developed to help farmers do this. These techniques, known as Best Management Practices (BMPs), may help cut costs, while conserving soil and increasing productivity.

The following are types of BMP that farmers may want to consider:

• Conservation tillage- minimizing the amount of exposed soil that would be subject to erosion
  
• Cover Cropping
  
• Stream fencing- prevents physical damage to stream banks, and spread of disease in livestock
  
• Streamside forest buffers- allowing vegetation to grow along banks, or planting of native plant species
  
• Waste Storage Structures- construction of tanks for barnyard animal waste, so that manure can be spread when fields are most receptive to nutrient application
  
• Contour Farming
  

A more detailed list of BMPs and explanations of these techniques are available through the USDA, local conservation districts and agricultural extension offices.

According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, use of nutrient management techniques, one category of BMPs, are increasing in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (Figure 1). This is helping reduce nutrient loads to the Bay, which have be identified as one of the major pollutant types effecting the Bay.

Resources

There are a variety of resources available for people interested in implementing BMPs on agricultural land. Some are available to private land owners, while others are targeted to non-profit organizations and their partners. In the Shermans Creek Watershed, the Shermans Creek Conservation Association (SCCA) is willing to work with land owners in order to obtain grants for implementation of projects that will help improve the water quality of Shermans Creek. They are specifically in interested in Montour Creek and Cisna Run.

Shermans Creek Conservation Association
385 Dark Hollow Rd.
Shermansdale, PA 17090
lssieber@comcast.net

The following are informational and funding resources available to those interested in BMPs.

Informational Resources

Perry County Conservation District

Charlie Markle, Matt McCourt 582-8988 ext. 3 New Bloomfield, PA

Your local conservation district can provide technical assistance for nutrient management strategies and resources for implementing BMPs.

Farm*A*Syst

Les Lanyon CSREES Penn State University 116 ASI Bldg University Park, PA 16802 Phone: 814-863-1614 Fax: 814-863-7043 E-mail: lel@psu.edu Voice mail: 814-863-1614

Farm*A*Syst is a partnership between government agencies and private business that enables you to prevent pollution on farms, ranches, and in homes using confidential environmental assessments.

SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education)

Jack Watson Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension and Outreach The Pennsylvania State University 401 Agricultural Administration Building University Park, PA 16802 Phone: 814-863-6114 Fax: 814-863-7776 Email: jackwatson@psu.edu

SARE provides information and funding for farmers and educators interested in implementing sustainable agriculture techniques.

Funding Resources

Northeast Region Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program

Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Grants
The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Education Fund (LWVPA-CEF) funds a limited number of community based educational projects that protect and improve either the drinking water source waters for the community's public drinking water system or the community's watershed. A new round of grants will probably be available in 2002. For information call 1-800-692-7281.
http://pa.lwv.org/wren/grants.html

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Several types of grants are available. Most are targeted at organizations, so individual landowners may want to seek partnership with SCCA or the local conservation district before applying.
http://www.nfwf.org/programs/grant_apply.htm