What you should know
- New York has awarded nearly $ 14 million to protect clean water across the state, Governor Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday.
- This funding will support agricultural water quality conservation projects throughout New York State, benefiting 91 farms.
- This is provided through the Agricultural Non-Point Source Reduction and Control program, which supports projects that address water quality challenges in priority watersheds and protect the environment.
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New York has awarded nearly $ 14 million to protect clean water across the state, Governor Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday.
This funding will support agricultural water quality conservation projects throughout New York State, benefiting 91 farms. This is provided through the Agricultural Non-Point Source Reduction and Control program, which supports projects that address water quality challenges in priority watersheds and protect the environment.
Projects have been awarded to 25 county soil and water conservation districts, on behalf of farms, which will support on-farm environmental planning and implementation of best management practice (BMP) systems to prevent nutrients and other potential pollutants enter the waterways.
BMPs include a variety of measures, including those vegetative buffers along streams, cover crops, nutrient management through manure storage, and other conservation measures.
For the past 25 years, New York State has supported projects covering 500 separate watersheds across the state, including 1,300 manure storage projects to help farms actively balance nutrient supply and nutrient demand from crops, which benefits the environment and improves the viability of the farm.
In addition, more than 800 acres of riparian buffer zone have been created to filter nutrients and sediment, protect surface water, stabilize streams, improve aquatic habitat, and reduce flood impacts. Additionally, more than 80,000 acres of cover crops have been planted to help prevent erosion, improve soil health, and increase organic matter in the soil, which retains more moisture for crop demand during the growing season.
Cover crops also sequester carbon, helping New York farmers fight climate change. Through Round 27 of this program, approximately 20,000 acres of cover crops will be implemented. Riparian buffers are another practice that allows carbon sequestration in addition to offering water quality benefits. More than 30 acres of herbaceous and wooded buffer zones will be implemented through Round 27.
The Agricultural Non-Point Source Reduction and Control Program builds on the state’s efforts to provide historic water quality protections, including the state’s unprecedented $ 3.5 billion commitment to ensure all New Yorkers have access to water. clean and its aggressive actions taken to combat climate change.
“New York continues to take decisive action to protect access to safe drinking water throughout the state,” said Governor Hochul. “This money will go towards meeting both goals by promoting the implementation of cost-effective waterway protection and reducing our carbon footprint.”
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