New York and the Chesapeake Bay

New York contains the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The Susquehanna River in New York, the nation’s 16th largest river, provides half of the freshwater to the Chesapeake Bay. The Susquehanna headwaters is one of the most flood-prone regions in the nation. Its low rolling hills and steep-walled side valleys feed the main river flows. The steep gradient tributaries combined with the rocky glacial till that underlies the region result in stream erosion, gravel deposition, and flooding that have important local and regional water quality consequences. The landscape is characterized by a mix of forest, agriculture, rural residences and two metropolitan areas, Elmira and Binghamton.

Problems: The major pollutants of concern in the Susquehanna headwaters are sediment and nutrients. Sources include flooding and stream bank erosion, road ditch and road bank erosion, and agricultural runoff. The watershed issues of greatest importance are flooding and drought, stream bank erosion, gravel deposition and sediment and nutrient loading from stream banks, roadways, and agriculture.

Note from New York's State Conservationist, Ron Alvarado: Recently there has been an increasing amount of negative information on agriculture's role in polluting the Chesapeake Bay.

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is a large ecosystem that encompasses six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia. In New York, approximately 3.6 million acres of the state drain into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Only a portion of that land is in agricultural production. A large percentage of land, 1.7 million acres, is forestland.

Different land uses have led to the conditions that threaten the present health of the Chesapeake Bay. It is not plausible to blame the Bay's health on one segment of society's actions. In many watersheds agriculture is preferred over suburban or urban land uses, as it provides less of an impact on water quality. 

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed continues to experience growth and development, which often converts forest and natural areas into paved areas to accommodate homes, stores, and roads. These paved areas and structures, known as impervious areas, take away the watershed's ability to filter pollutants that result from human activity and also increase the rate at which rain runoff reaches streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay.

The New York staff of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) thanks those in New York's agricultural community who are voluntarily making a positive impact on working lands.

We appreciate the farmers throughout the entire Chesapeake Bay Watershed whom are taking steps toward conserving, enhancing, and sustaining natural resources. Ultimately, these creditable actions will help in the efforts to create a healthy Chesapeake Bay.

New York's agriculture community is modifying farming practices to improve the environment, not only in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, but throughout the entire state.

In the early 1990s, the people in the New York City Watershed made the commitment to support agriculture as a preferred land use over development because of the benefits to the water resources. Nine million people put their trust in agriculture to maintain their clean, unfiltered drinking water.

NRCS services are being used by New York farmers to write conservation and nutrient management plans, create wildlife habitat, install erosion control practices, improve water quality, and to preserve farmland from urbanization.

One way a farmer's stewardship is shown is through a continued interest and support of the many voluntary USDA Farm Bill programs and services that NRCS administers. These services and programs are designed to help people help the land by improving the quality of soil, air, and water resources.

Though there is even more to be done, farmers are emerging as one of the leaders in environmental stewardship. The NRCS is also committed to this role. We are a service orientated agency that assists farmers, communities, private organizations, and other state and federal agencies to help protect natural resources.

We have many services to offer farmers and encourage people to contact a USDA Service Center as they work toward a better environment. Cooperative conservation among the many good stewards in New York's agricultural community is promoting healthy watershed throughout the state.

New York farmers, NRCS thanks you! Together, we are helping people help the land...and the Bay.

Acres of New York land (by county) in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

A Success Story

A branch of the Tioughnioga River flows right behind Ken and Susan Poole’s dairy farm, named Sunset Young Farm, in Cortland County, New York. The Tioughnioga joins the Susquehanna River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The Poole’s signed up for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in 2000.  They were concerned that their barnyard was overly sloppy and that it was having an adverse affect on their herd’s health. Also, barnyard runoff was flowing into the Tioughnioga River.

“If the animals were in that concentrated area with no concrete, where you couldn’t clean it all the time, when rain comes and flushes through these yards, it’s naturally going to go right into that river and we could not stop it,” Susan Poole said. “We were scrapping gravel out a lot, and it costs money to replace it."

Through EQIP, the Poole’s were able to install a large concrete pad in the barnyard’s high-traffic area. The pad makes it easy to scrape the manure daily and deposit it in a manure storage pit. The pad also makes it less likely that runoff from the barnyard will make it into the Tioughnioga, or the Chesapeake Bay.

How can NRCS help me help the Bay?

• Explore NRCS' programs in New York
• USDA's Service Center Locator

NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants

• Program information
• Chesapeake Bay watershed component awards

Other Chesapeake Bay Watershed states

• Delaware
• Maryland
• Pennsylvania
• Virginia
• West Virginia

These documents requireAdobe Acrobat.

8-digit HUC watersheds (242 KB)

Estimated farm acreage by 8-digit HUC watershed (181 KB)

Additional Resources

• Chesapeake Bay Program - The Chesapeake Bay Program is a unique regional partnership that has led and directed the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay since 1983.
• Chesapeake Bay Journal - Bay Journal is published by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to inform the public about issues and events that affect the Chesapeake Bay.

Contacts

Robert McAfee
NRCS Chesapeake Bay Watershed Management Specialist (acting)
443-482-2953