Section 3. Managing Watershed Stresses
AGRICULTURE
Under good management practices, agriculture can help sustain natural hydrologic
conditions by enabling groundwater recharge and slowing water runoff into
surface waters. But under poor practices, agriculture can stress the watershed
through soil erosion and sedimentation, and by adding nutrients, chemicals
and coliform bacteria to the watershed ecosystem.
Technical and financial assistance programs that contribute to good agricultural practices are available to farmers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and U.S. Farm Service Agency, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and County Conservation Districts. A good example of an effective technical assistance program is the work of the Berks County Conservancy and the County Conservation District in helping farmers with their management plans on Tulpehocken Creek, where such efforts are particularly needed to protect Blue Marsh Reservoir.
Berks County also illustrates the challenges facing agriculture in areas experiencing suburban development. In 1999, the County had 2,065 farms totaling 238,500 acres. Conversion of farms to non-agricultural uses is now occurring at the rate of about 2,000 acres annually. Although Berks and a number of other counties have agricultural preservation programs, the continued loss of farmland to development is likely to diminish groundwater recharge in the watershed.
Figure
29.
Streams Impaired by Agriculture
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection (305b) Report, 2000
Based upon an assessment of 53 percent of the watershed, approximately 34 stream miles are estimated as impaired because of agricultural activities.
Site Design: Tevlin & Clarke
