“A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself”- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Our History:
Kent Soil and Water Conservation District was founded on May 8,1938 and is the oldest soil conservation district in Maryland and the Northeastern United States. The program for soil conservation districts was started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after the catastrophe of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s showed a need for conserving our soil. Soil scientist Hugh Bennett helped lead the initiative, and today there are over 3,000 soil conservation districts spanning across all 50 states.
Mission:
The Kent Soil & 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 soil erosion and reduce run off of nutrients and chemicals into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
Why Conservation is Important:
Conservation helps to reduce / 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 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 and smothers bottom dwelling species like oysters, and creating overall unfavorable conditions for aquatic life.
Goals
Kent County is bordered on three sides by water; the Sassafras and Chester rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay. Agriculture comprises 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 Bay each day.
Cover crop is important to prevent erosion, increase soil moisture, nutrient holding capacity and soil structure and stability for plant growth.
Kent County was 1st in the state of Maryland for acres of cover crops in 2022-2023 with 54,491 acres signed up.
$935,879 in fall payments were received
$2,590434 in spring payments were received.
In 2023-2024, our farmers planted 56,541.7 eligible acres of cover crop.
In 2021, after 49 years, Joe Blizzard retired. Craig Zinter joined our team as our sediment control contractor. Currently, Robert Baldwin, our district manager, works with the sediment control plans in our office.
This year he has signed off on 76 projects to date. (August 2023)