February 26, 2021 - The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) invites the public to join the next Clean Water talk on March 4th, 2021. The event is part of a monthly virtual series highlighting efforts to protect and restore water quality in Vermont.
On Thursday, March 4th, 2021 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Sonia Howlett with the Water Quality Division of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets, will discuss the new Vermont Pay-For-Phosphorus program. This program, which will be accepting its first applications in the fall of 2021, introduces a new approach to improve land stewardship on farmland and water quality by using a performance-based payment model. This means participating farms will be paid for the pounds of phosphorus reduced above the required amounts using conservation practices such as cover crops and filter strips.
“The Vermont Pay-For-Phosphorus Program is a new approach to water quality conservation on agricultural cropland in Vermont. The program will pay farmers for the water quality outcomes they achieve rather than paying them per acre to install conservation practices,” said Howlett. “I look forward to sharing more about this project at next week’s Clean Water talk.”
The discussion will provide an overview of the historical background on this pay-for-performance approach to conservation, current research to inform the statewide rollout next winter and offer details on how this program will be set up.
Register for this free online event at https://dec.vermont.gov/water-investment/cwi/outreach/lecture-series. All lectures are recorded and uploaded to DEC’s YouTube Channel http://tiny.cc/CleanWaterYouTube. To request accommodations to participate in the lecture series, please email ANR.CleanWaterVT@vermont.gov.