Take our Clean Water Challenge: Match a Farmer’s Commitment

Father and daughter's fishing

There is a lot of talk today about agriculture’s impact on clean water. Certainly agriculture is a contributor to the pollution in our waterways. But some farmers have taken major steps to prevent soil and fertilizer from leaving their farms. And you might be surprised by the impact a single farm can have! For example, in one year, farmers in our BMP Challenge program reduced fertilizer runoff to the Chesapeake Bay equal to the pollution footprint of 285 households.

We aim to work with farmers to improve water quality by 10 to 20 percent in our project areas and in the process; we’ll create "road maps" to include more farmers and more watersheds. Our goal is to reduce fertilizer runoff by 756,000 lbs – that’s more than the impact of 54,000 households!

If farmers can achieve such gains for clean water, so can you! You can take our Clean Water Challenge: Match a Farmer’s Commitment and make a pledge to reduce your impact on your local watershed!

We will count each individual pledge towards our goal of 54,000 households matching the commitment of farmers enrolled in our programs.

Personal Commitments
(Pick the ones that work for you)

Question - Not Required - I will:

	Adopt new conservation practices on my lawn or garden , such as reducing fertilizer use.
	Drive 500 miles less every year by walking, biking or taking public transportation.
	Educate myself about household cleaning products and select those that have less impact on water quality.
	Support farmers in my area whose farming practices make positive impacts on clean water because water quality improvements on the farm are far more cost effective than sewage plant upgrades.
	Encourage others to vote for farmland conservation measures in my area.
	Contact my state legislators and tell them that I want water quality policies that give farmers the resources they need to help clean up watersheds.

Question - Not Required - I will make my own commitment to improve water quality. (Tell us how!)

How did we figure out the match? In 2010, five farmers enrolled in our BMP Challenge program were given credits from the Pennsylvania Department of the Environment certifying that they prevented 800 pounds of nitrogen from reaching the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation estimates that the average household has a nitrogen pollution footprint of 14 pounds. This underscores the significant impact even a single farm using one risk-free conservation practice can make.