In 2009, we described the unfortunate reality of local farms allowing livestock to access local rivers and streams – including the Shenandoah River (see Field Notes Vol.17, No. 1). Recently, WSSI held its annual canoe trip on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, and we still saw cows in the river vs. having a protected, and reforested, 100 ft buffer with watering troughs.

Simple, low-cost BMP solutions can be applied to resolve situations such as this; and grant funding is often available. In the end, the costs to society for agricultural BMPs are orders of magnitude cheaper than the price of urban stormwater retrofits (see page 18 of Virginia State Finance Committee TMDL WIP). However, we still are not fully implementing these inexpensive, yet effective, practices.

For more information on the availability of grant funding for BMPs and other water quality projects, please contact Mike Rolband or Kelly McCutcheon.