Agricultural Ditch Management BMP Expert Panel Report

Description

Existing and soon-to-be-approved conservation practices related to agricultural ditches are not credited in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model (CBWM) for reporting state progress towards nutrient and sediment reduction goals. But agricultural best management practices installed in ditch systems represent a potentially significant source of nutrient loss reduction credit in the Chesapeake Bay, particularly on the Delmarva Peninsula located in the Coastal Plain region of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Agricultural Ditch Management BMP Expert Panel convened in 2016 to review the available science on the nutrient and sediment removal efficiencies associated with agricultural ditch best management practices of particular concern to the Delmarva Peninsula but applicable across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, where appropriate.