Why is Conservation Important?
Conservation helps to reduce and prevent sediment and nutrient pollution coming from fields reaching the Chesapeake Bay via the Chester or Sassafras rivers. Excess nutrients in the water causes algae blooms. When the algae die, they are fed on by microbes that decompose them. These bacteria take up dissolved oxygen in the water leaving less oxygen for other aquatic organisms. When there is too little oxygen to support the certain species, the water is considered hypoxic, or also referred to as a "dead zone", reducing the aquatic life that can be supported.
Sediment is an issue because crops and plants lose access to needed nutrients. An excess of sediment in the water blocks sunlight from reaching the underwater plants that produce oxygen. Sediment also inhibits the ability of predator fish to see and to hunt. This also smothers bottom dwelling species like oysters, and creates overall unfavorable conditions for aquatic life.
OUR MISSION
The Kent Soil and Water Conservation District partners with local, state, and federal agencies to help protect the Chesapeake Bay. The District works with landowners to install conservation practices to protect soil health, prevent erosion control, and to reduce run off to nutrients and chemicals into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
OUR GOALS
Kent County is bordered on three sides by water; the Sassafras and Chester rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay. Agriculture compromises around 65% of the land use. Therefore, reducing nutrient and sediment pollution from agriculture can make a significant difference in improving water quality. The Watershed Implementation Plan sets up a series of goals for reducing pollution by creating a target Total Daily Maximum Load or maximum amount of pollution that is allowed to enter the rivers or the Bay each day.
American Farmland Trust and Million Acre Challenge
