Tips and information to facilitate environmental restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Did you know BMP Targeting Maps are available to help identify where conservation practices will have the greatest impact? Using CAST delivery factors and 2024 Progress loads, these maps highlight model segments most effective for BMP placement. Delivery factors show how nutrients and sediment move from land to water--higher values mean greater potential runoff. Six bivariate maps display this relationship by nutrient and sector, with darker areas indicating where BMPs can deliver the most benefit. Explore the maps using the button on the Map Tools & Spatial Data page, or download the shapefiles directly to your computer. To learn more, check out the presentation "Explaining Changes in Nitrogen and Phosphorus Loads Using Land Management Practice Data."
Join us for Watershed Planning with CAST: Aligning Local Actions to the Revised Chesapeake Bay Agreement to learn how to use CAST to develop watershed plans that reflect the Bay Agreement's updated goals. This session will highlight what's new in the Agreement, demonstrate CAST's planning tools, and show how to prioritize actions that deliver both nutrient reductions and community co-benefits.
Join us for a conversation with Scott Raubenstine, Vice President of Agricultural Services at Perdue AgriBusiness, as we explore how modern farming practices, evolving consumer expectations, and watershed health intersect.
Scott will share how Perdue is working with farmers, partners, and conservation organizations to advance practical, science-based solutions that support both agricultural productivity and environmental stewardship. He'll highlight the company's ongoing work in areas such as regenerative agriculture, water quality, and soil health, as well as broader efforts related to sustainable food production and responsible sourcing.
The session will also feature a demonstration of how CAST can model real-world best management practices (BMPs) to identify the most effective and cost-efficient strategies for reducing nutrient and sediment runoff--supporting shared goals for farm viability and Bay restoration.
In-person trainings are available upon request.
September's CAST webinar featured guest presenter Marcie Dunn, who shared her experience using NRCS planning tools--Conservation Desktop and the Conservation Assessment and Ranking Tool (CART)--to identify, prioritize, and evaluate on-farm conservation practices. Marcie walked through a real-world project example to show how these tools support decision-making and demonstrate the benefits of conservation efforts at the farm scale. Following Marcie's presentation, we introduced the Farm Scale Pollutant Load Analysis Field Guide as an alternative approach that anyone can use with publicly available CAST data to estimate both water quality and carbon reduction benefits of BMPs.
This, and 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 Additional Resources.
A Tunnel Worth Cheering-Alexandria Wins National Award: River Renew's $615 million sewer tunnel project honored nationally for innovation, teamwork, and clean water benefits. Read more about this success story on The Zebra'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:
The manure transport BMP logic now allows manure to be transported into areas where there are no animals and no crops. Previously, that manure was not counted in the area.
Security updates were made.
This update affects the loads in the 2024 Progress scenario in Charlottesville and Alexandria, Virginia.
A full list of changes is available on CAST's Upgrade History. The new CAST version is Phase 6 - 7.14.3.
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