This is one in a series of articles about farmers in the
Chesapeake Bay Watershed who have implemented Best Management
Practices (BMPs), demonstrating that agriculture is halfway to
achieving the nutrient reductions needed to restore the
Chesapeake Bay and its waters. View the rest of the series here.
“Silt and runoff from heavy erosion areas were contaminating my
well,” said Mike, holding up a nasty-looking sample of
discolored ground water. So the Bazzles teamed up with the
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Chesapeake
Bay Foundation (CBF) to make conservation programs work for
their farm in the Smith Creek watershed of the Shenandoah
Valley. Bazzle installed stream fencing and planted vegetated
filter strips along his stream banks, created livestock
crossings, and put in additional troughs and cross-fencing to
reduce polluted runoff from leaving his farm. He is now in the
process of constructing confined feeding facilities for his
livestock to further reduce pollution and to capture nutr