Agriculture Workgroup

The Agriculture Workgroup provides expertise and leadership on the development and implementation of policies, programs and research to reduce pollutant loads delivered from agricultural lands and animal operations to upstream waters and the Chesapeake Bay.

Meetings

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About

The charge of the Agriculture Workgroup is to provide expertise and leadership on development and implementation of policies, programs and research to reduce pollutant loads delivered from agricultural lands and animal operations to upstream waters and the Chesapeake Bay. The workgroup reports to the Water Quality Goal Implementation Team. Functions include:

  • Provide a forum for discussion, exchange of information and evaluation between federal, state and local agencies, conservation districts, universities, agri-business and the corporate sector on sustainable and/or cost-effective agricultural production systems that benefit water and air quality.
  • Provide recommendations on the prioritization of federal and state technical and financial resources on specific practices in priority watersheds.
  • Provide technical expertise and leadership to support the development and implementation of agricultural elements within the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, Watershed Implementation Plans, two-year milestones, and tracking and reporting mechanisms that support an adaptive management approach towards Bay restoration.
  • Coordinate with WQGIT Watershed Technical Workgroup to identify, define, quantify and incorporate pollutant reduction and conservation practices on agricultural lands and animal operations into the Chesapeake Bay Program decision support system. Provide data and support for the Water Quality Goal Implementation Team and Technical and Support Services.

Projects

Phase 7 Model Development

In Progress

These updated modeling tools will be used by the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership to inform decisions related to the nutrient and sediment reduction goals outlined in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

Publications

Cropland Irrigation BMP Expert Panel Report

Publication date:

This report details the work done by the Cropland Irrigation Expert Panel to improve the BMP definition and efficiency values for cropland irrigation, create unique BMP definitions and recommendations for three different cropland irrigation categories, and investigate differences in BMP efficiencies and irrigation practices across regions.

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