By: Kevin Brown, Agricultural Resource Specialist
Ok, let’s get down to the brass taxes.  What is a rain tax, where is it happening, and what can I do to help the situation without going to that extreme?  Who wants to be taxed for rain falling on their property?  “We don’t have control over that” is what they say, but we DO have control over what happens to it from there.  Can you imagine Towanda (or insert your community here) before it was Towanda?  Especially because it is built on a side hill.  One thousand years ago a 2-inch rainfall event happened, and all that rain went into the ground.  The river level was unaffected.  The rainfall gradually moved through the soil layers and the excess was released into the river days or weeks or even months later.  The result, no flooding.  Picture it during the next 2-inch rainfall that we get.  Rain hits your home, it hits the streets, it hits the schools and businesses.  In some places there are no places whatsoever for it to infiltrate into the ground.  It goes from your downspout to the curb, dumped into the street, adds to the water already running down the street, hits the storm drain and goes DIRECTLY to the river.  The result, billions of gallons of water now going down the river that never made it there before.  And it is going there like NOW.  Add that to water coming from Sayre and Waverly and Athens and Chemung and Binghamton and Owego, etc.  The town fathers didn’t think about this when they set up some of the systems, but as more and more communities grow, they are thinking about it now.  Now we have a huge problem.  We have concentrated all that water and sent it downstream (along with it- pollution, erosion, sediment, nutrients, etc.).  Again, do we care enough to try and fix it one house at a time?  Or do we institute a (wait for it…) Stormwater Fee (RAIN TAX)?  NNNOOOOOOOO!!

By: Kevin Brown, Agricultural Resource Specialist
Hopefully part 1 gave you some things to think about and maybe even got your blood boiling a little bit.  That was my intention.  I want you thinking about this and even thinking that maybe you can do something about it in your own little corner of the world.  It really doesn’t take much to make a huge difference in some cases.  Our goal, as homeowners AND business owners, should be that absolutely no rainwater leaves our properties, especially in normal rainfall events.  NONE.  I know it is easy to run inside while it is raining and just not realize, or maybe even care, where that rainwater is going.  Well we should.  Next time it rains, grab the rain suit and head outside.  Take a stroll along your property and take note of what you see.  Are you adding to the problem, or not?  Is water leaving your property, or not?  If it is, is there anything you can do about it?

​By: Kevin Brown, Agricultural Resource Specialist
Right here in Pennsylvania!  Sound crazy?  Sound like something that the government came up with just to get some more of YOUR hard-earned money?  Maybe, but it is happening.  And, as much as you may think it’s a crazy idea, it has some validity behind it.  I know I possibly could start a firestorm here but read on for where this notion is coming from and why we do need to do something about it.  There may be better ideas how to handle it, but here is the concept:

​By: Nathan Dewing, Agricultural Team Leader
Think about all the places where you like water to be.  The list might include the backyard babbling brook, the seashore, beside the Lake House, under your boat, household plumbing, and your glass complete with ice cubes.  There are also plenty of places where you don’t want it like your yard, driveway, basement, or living room.  To get it right, we must look at our soil.

By: Bryan Swistock, Senior Extension Associate: Water Resource Associate, Penn State Extension
Although last winter was one of the least snowy on record for much of Pennsylvania, recent snowstorms in parts of the state have brightened the mood of snow enthusiasts who enjoy skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, hunting, and ice fishing. But forests blanketed in snow should also be appreciated by those who enjoy streams in the summer and rely on groundwater wells and springs for drinking water supplies. That’s because forests and snowpack together allow for recharge of underground aquifers that consist of 80 trillion gallons of freshwater stored in the pore spaces and cracks in rock beneath the surface. These aquifers serve to maintain the flow of streams throughout the year and provide water that supports industries, businesses, agriculture, and drinking water for millions of Pennsylvania residents. In an average year, 10% to 25% of the water that flows in streams and enters groundwater wells originates from melting snow.

By: Jonathan VanNoy, Natural Resource Specialist
In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency published regulations to reduce pollution through a new program; the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES, for short).  This new program took aim at reducing pollutants to waters of the United States.  In Pennsylvania, the NPDES program is administered by the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).  In Bradford County, the Conservation District has a delegation agreement with DEP to administer the NPDES program at the County level.  This allows people applying for earth disturbance permits in Bradford County to submit NPDES plans to the Conservation District for review and approval, speeding up the permit process.  Today we are going to look at the NPDES program in Bradford County as it relates to earth disturbance and the resulting stormwater from construction activities.  Stormwater, simply put, is runoff from precipitation, snowmelt, surface runoff and drainage.

​By: Nathan Dewing, Agricultural Team Leader, Bradford County Conservation District
Life is drawn to water.  We all can relate to that.  Land bordering waterways and waterbodies is teaming with life.  Riparian is a term literally meaning “riverbank”, or land beside the water.  How we manage our riparian land has far reaching effects.  Therefore, the conservation district gives considerable attention to equipping landowners to manage them well. 
Current focus on the Chesapeake Bay watershed is opening many opportunities for landowners wishing to improve riparian areas, including grant funding, plant materials, and more.

By: Kristin Pepper, Dirt & Gravel Road Specialist, BCCD
 
BCCD participates in the state-wide Dirt, Gravel, and Low Volume Road Program (DGLVR) which provides funding for environmental improvements and reduced long-term maintenance of our network of dirt and gravel roads. Since its formation in 1997, the program has helped Bradford County municipalities improve approximately 70 miles of dirt and gravel roads. Each year BCCD recognizes a handful of those municipalities that stand out above the rest in various categories.

 ​By: Nathan Dewing, Agricultural Team Leader
     The abundant grass crop in Bradford County leaves growers considering their options for managing it.  Harvest for storage as livestock feed is the most common decision, but it’s not the only one.   Many acres are used for wildlife food and cover.  And many acres are harvested another way – by grazing livestock.
     Grazing is often considered an efficient means of harvesting grass because it can be done with little or no power equipment.  Many grazers say that livestock have four legs for a reason – so they can go harvest their own food!  At a minimum, the infrastructure needed to make this happen is a fence and some water.  The last article explored decisions involved with supplying water.  Now let’s consider the fence.
     A producer first ought to ask the question “Could this be done without a fence?”  There might be a way and innovators should keep exploring possibilities.  For now however, the answer overwhelmingly is “You will need a fence.”

By: Jonathan VanNoy, Natural Resource Specialist
     If I were to tell you to close your eyes and describe what comes to mind when you hear the word “wetland”, what would you describe?  A stagnant, slimy waterbody?  A grassy, soupy area with cattails?  Maybe that lower field that you can only make hay on every few years?  How about that special place that you love to hunt ducks, or trap muskrats?  You may have an archery stand on the edge of a swamp that comes to mind.  You might describe that spot in your woods that pools water each spring, and for one or two warm nights a year is just crawling with toads or salamanders as they congregate to lay masses of eggs.  (Go to a local vernal pool, pond, swamp or wetland on a warm, spring evening and pull up a chair and just listen and watch.  There is NOTHING that can compare to the sound you will hear if the frogs or toads have congregated!)