June breakfasts to discuss opportunities for restoration of South River, Christians Creek

Farmers, landowners, and residents are invited to two free local breakfast meetings to discuss the many funding opportunities for restoration work and farm conservation practices in the South River and Christians Creek watersheds. These watersheds are a high priority for conservation programs such as fencing cattle out of streams, planting buffers of native trees and plants along waterways, and reducing polluted runoff from developed lands.

“There have never been more opportunities for farmers and landowners in this area to install practices on their land to improve soil and restore local waterways,” said Bobby Whitescarver, former District Conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“Right now, there is an unprecedented variety of sources of investment for reducing pollution from both agricultural lands and developed areas,” said Matt Kowalski, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Virginia Watershed Restoration Scientist.  “These breakfasts are a great chance to learn about all of these options in one place.”

The first breakfast will be held in Fishersville on Monday, June 11, from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at Tinkling Springs Presbyterian Church. The second will be in Waynesboro on Wednesday, June 13, from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the Panera Bread at 1101 Red Top Orchard Road.  To register, call Liz Ronston at 804/258-1862 or e-mail [email protected] with your name and which breakfast you are attending.

At each breakfast, speakers from CBF, USDA, Augusta County, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and other organizations will discuss ways to improve the waters of Christians Creek and the South River. Funding sources include grants from the DuPont Settlement, as well as CBF’s Headwaters Agricultural Stewardship Project, which focuses on farms in the Christians Creek and South River watersheds under a grant managed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality with funds from the U.S. EPA.

Other partners include Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Friends of the Middle River, Headwaters Soil and Water Conservation District, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Virginia Cooperative Extension.