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Conewago Watershed Joins as a Local Addition to a National Research Program
Long Term Agro-ecosystem Research (LTAR) watersheds are regional areas of interest studied intensively by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) across the nation. These regional watersheds make up a nationwide network of 18 long-term research sites, with the new addition of our own, local Conewago watershed. The goal of the LTAR network is to examine land-use changes and impacts across different geographies to provide practical, regional information to producers and policymakers alike. This research can help guide various stakeholders in making decisions regarding the health of agricultural communities and landscapes as well as the economic opportunity in these areas. Currently, in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, there are four LTAR sites including University Park, PA; Klingerstown, PA; Conewago, PA; and Princess Anne, MD.
The Conewago site spans several sub-watersheds within the Conewago Creek Watershed, covering portions of Lancaster, Dauphin, and Lebanon counties. Sarah Xenophon, out of the Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center’s Lower Susquehanna Office, has been tasked with coordinating this local program. Her role involves establishing the site as a recognized LTAR by coordinating various research projects within the region, developing water sample collection strategies, strengthening existing connections with cooperating landowners as well as creating new landowner connections, and assisting with data collection across the various projects.
Sarah Xenophon
Research project sites being developed in the Conewago range from heavily forested areas in the headwaters of the watershed to grazing pastures and crop fields downstream. These projects will be looking at how land uses can be altered using established Best Management Practices across agricultural landscapes and how those changes might impact soil health and water quality. Many of the sites chosen for research are supported by long-standing landowner champions in the community, who have supported the Ag and Environment Center’s water quality work in the past and who continue to seek answers about how their land can produce more, waste less, and protect the health of their soil and water. This program aims to act as a process of shared discovery, whereby landowners get tremendous amounts of data about their land, which can improve their management techniques, and policymakers and various other stakeholders can better understand how practices can be implemented and what to expect from that implementation.
The health of the Chesapeake Bay has improved! But we still have a long way to go. Here is a link to the report created by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. http://www.cbf.org/stateofthebay
Conewago Creek Designated USDA Showcase For Voluntary Conservation Practices