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United States Department of Agriculture
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Keith Bjerke, Administrator, Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS); Bill Richards, Chief, Soil Conservation Service (SCS); and Myron Johnsrud, Administrator, Extension Service (ES); participated in a water quality field trip May 17–18 on Port Isobel Island in Tangier Sound along the lower Chesapeake Bay. Senior staff from each USDA agency responsible for administering national water quality programs, accompanied the group. Other participants included ASCS and State and local staff, State Extension Directors and Administrators, and SCS State conservationists from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
 * Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Field Trip

Discussions focused on: The trip was coordinated by The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Inc., a coalition of more than 100 business, industry, citizen, and environmental groups working on policies that will lead to a cleaner Bay. For additional information, contact Gerald Calhoun, Water Quality Liaison, ES/SCS, and member of the Alliance’s Board of Directors, at 202-447-4946.
 * The vital role tidal and upland wetlands play in providing food and habitat; controlling excess nutrients from livestock waste and runoff; storing flood waters; and filtering pollutants.
 * Land-based problems—erosion from improper agricultural development practices; excess nutrients from sewage treatment plants, septic tanks, and nonpoint source runoff; and toxins from industry, agriculture, and households.
 * The role of governments and the private sector in the overall Bay cleanup, including the need to coordinate research, evaluation, and the monitoring of water quality efforts to assure success.

At Extension’s invitation, experts from industry, government, and land-grant universities will attend a public forum, July 29–31, 1991, in Kansas City, MO, to explore present and future impacts of livestock, poultry, and aquaculture waste on water quality.
 * Animal Waste Management Forum

Cooperating with Extension Service in sponsoring the forum are the USDA’s Agricultural Research and Soil Conservation Services, Michigan State University, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

For additional information on the forum, scheduled to be held at the Westin Crown Center Hotel, Kansas City, contact Richard Reynnells, ES–USDA National Program Leader, Poultry Science, Room 334, South Building, Washington, DC 20250-0900. Telephone: 202-447-4087.

USDA’s Working Group on Water Quality recently prepared a paper on “Water Quality and Nitrates: Agricultural Sources of Nitrate and Approaches to Reduce Nitrate Contamination of Waters.” Eight USDA agencies developed this information piece that gives an overview of nitrate occurrence in U.S. waters. The paper emphasizes USDA’s work to minimize the impact of nitrate from agricultural activities.
 * Paper on Nitrate Contamination Sources

Copies were sent to respective agency field staff. For additional information, contact Francis Thicke, ES–USDA National Program Leader for Soil Science, at 202-447-5369.