Tips and information to facilitate environmental restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Did you know about the Cost Effectiveness of BMPs resources? The Cost Profiles page includes data and tools to help determine which BMPs are most effective and have the lowest cost. Knowing which BMPs are the most cost-effective makes it possible to develop an effective plan. These data are presented in terms of an acre of BMP, or the appropriate unit for the BMP like animal units, feet, or acres treated. The cost of each BMP is also provided, and the cost per pound of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment reduced. These data are county or state-specific, since there are variable landscape characteristics. Visit the Cost Profiles page to download the tabular data, or click on the BMP Pounds Reduced and Costs by County chart for a quick look at the average nitrogen or phosphorus load reduced per sector and the average cost per pound reduced per sector.
We are taking a summer break and will resume CAST webinars in September.
In-person trainings are available upon request. CAST workshops are being held at the Conservation Innovation Fund and Department of Defense offices on July 15 and 16, respectively.
The American Farmland Trust hosted a webinar on CAST, which demonstrated how to use CAST to evaluate trends over time as well as estimate loads from current or planned BMPs. Specifically, it:
A recording of this webinar is available on the American Farmland Trust's website.
Other past training videos, on topics ranging from buffers to targeting nutrient reductions, are available in the Learning section of CAST under 'Free Training Videos'. Amongst the variety of training content available, there are also short videos on topics like 'Where do I start,' under CAST 101 - Getting Started.
WVDEP honors youth environmental groups from around the state: The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's (WVDEP) Youth Environmental Program (YEP) presented close to $15,000 in cash awards to youth groups from around the state for their efforts to better the environment in the Mountain State. Read more about this success story on WVDEP's website.
Does your organization have a Chesapeake Bay Watershed success story you'd like to share? If you have a story you would like to see in the next CAST Newsletter, submit an article using the 'Contact Us' feature from any page of the CAST website.
The Chesapeake Bay Deadlines refer to the major jurisdictions' annual reporting of new BMPs implemented, and existing BMPs verified as functioning in the watershed. BMP implementation information is used to create annual progress scenarios using CAST and to make assessments and report out the estimated impacts of restoration efforts.
New features: A bug related to the copy/upload BMPs by state function is corrected.
A full list of changes is available on CAST's Upgrade History. The new CAST version is Phase 6 - 7.12.1.
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