From Farmland to Watershed: How We Affect the Chesapeake Bay

Did you know that Lancaster County lives upstream from the Chesapeake Bay? Spanning 200 miles, the bay is home to 3600 types of plant and animal life, including 348 species of fish, 173 species of shellfish, and 2700 types of plants. Just like Lancaster farmland, the Chesapeake Bay provides surrounding communities with fresh, local food. In fact, about 500 million pounds of seafood is harvested from the bay every year. Also much like our love for our farmland, the Chesapeake Bay is cherished, valued, and relied on by people and animals alike.

Why Should Lancaster Care?

Many of us here in Lancaster will never set eyes on the magnificent Chesapeake Bay. However, Lancaster County is part of the bay’s watershed – an area of land whose runoff will drain into the bay. In fact, the Susquehanna River is one of the most significant tributaries of the bay, contributing about half of its freshwater. So, what we put in our water and on our land here affects the bay’s health.

Litter, nutrients, and pollutants are carried by surface runoff into our surrounding streams and rivers, eventually flowing into the bay. Nutrients found in animal waste and fertilizer pose a huge threat to the water quality and ecosystem health of the bay. For obvious reasons, Lancaster County produces high amounts of both animal waste and fertilizer, and many of our farmers do not have the resources or funding to implement the practices necessary to control surface runoff.

Pennsylvania is undoubtedly off-track in our efforts to help save the bay. This is why our mission at Lancaster Farmland Trust goes beyond preservation. We want to help our farmers be good stewards of the Earth, contributing to healthy water and ecosystems. LFT staff works with Lancaster’s farmers to fund and implement management and conservation practices so we can help to keep the bay clean and healthy. Our farmland is important to the people of Lancaster, and the bay’s water is important to so many others.

But what if you’re not a farmer?

That’s ok, there are still ways you can help to protect the bay and its health. According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, here are a handful of ways we can all work to improve our environment:

1. Plant a butterfly garden
2. Reduce food waste
3. Conserve water in daily routines
4. Reduce herbicide use
5. Start carpooling to work or school
6. Use reusable products

As members of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, it is so important that we all work to do our part – not just the farmers. If you‘re looking for more ways to do your part, click here to check out ways to get involved with LFT. When you support LFT, you support water conservation work here in Lancaster County.

If you want to learn more about our conservation practices here at LFT, click here. If you’re interested in learning more about the bay, click here to visit the Chesapeake Bay Program’s website.

References:

https://www.chesapeakebay.net/action/protect-the-bay