PAT CROSSLEY/Sun-Gazette Rep. Fred Keller, R-Kreamer, second row, left, and Patrick McDonnell, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, third row, right, pose for a photo with representatives of the Montoursville Area School District’s Future Farmers of America. From left are, row one, Victoria Kleese, Hannah Eck, Morgan Snyder, Conner Meckley; row 2, Rachel Shaffer, Joanna Patchen, Camron Livermore, adviser Ben Hepburn; row three, Bodie Kaufman and Wyatt Bogart.

PAT CROSSLEY/Sun-Gazette
Rep. Fred Keller, R-Kreamer, second row, left, and Patrick McDonnell, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, third row, right, pose for a photo with representatives of the Montoursville Area School District’s Future Farmers of America. From left are, row one, Victoria Kleese, Hannah Eck, Morgan Snyder, Conner Meckley; row 2, Rachel Shaffer, Joanna Patchen, Camron Livermore, adviser Ben Hepburn; row three, Bodie Kaufman and Wyatt Bogart.

LEWISBURG — The Chesapeake Bay Pollutant Reduction Plan and its regulations were some of the major concerns that members of the regional agricultural community voiced to Patrick McDonnell, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection at a breakfast meeting Friday.

Retired, current and future farmers listened as McDonnell spoke about the relationship between the environmental issues in the state and the day-to-day operations on area farms.

“I try to say Chesapeake Bay at the beginning and never say Chesapeake Bay again during the conversation, because the reality is our initiative related to the bay is about our local water quality. It is not about something that happens 90 miles south of Harrisburg. It’s about how are we delivering water resources to our own residents here,” he said.

“The partnership we’ve had with the department of ag, with farmers, the farm bureau and others in this has been one of the key components that we’ve engaged in to try to set us up for success. That’s a very deliberate choice of words because we certainly aren’t there yet,” he added.

He noted that under the federal Chesapeake Bay Pollutant Reduction Plan, the state has until 2025 to reduce about 34 million pounds of nitrogen as well as phosphorous in sediment in order to meet the federal obligations, under the pollution diets that the states have. He added “that’s a big lift for all of us.”

“The challenge before us and the reason why that relationship with (state Department of Agriculture) Secretary (Russell C.) Redding and the department of ag and the relationship with the agricultural community is so important is we’re trying to chart a course and a path on this that is not about just that pollution reduction … this isn’t about some pollution goal that we achieve by 2025. This is about what does the future of farming look like for the next 50 years? How do we give ourselves a platform that is supportive of the farm community and supportive of all the things we want to do for water quality?”

McDonnell detailed how his department is working under a current plan to increase local involvement.

“Right now we’re working with four pilot counties across the southern part of the state to figure out what does a county plan looks like that addresses pollution obligations within those counties. Not in a regulatory hammer kind of way but in a what are the opportunities, how can we find funding, who are the right partners, how do we make decisions, how do we engage municipalities, farmers, residents within those counties in order to accomplish this?” he said.

One of the ways his department has been able to support farmers in their efforts to comply with the federal regulations requiring farm inspections for nutrient and manure management plans is a monetary one. He said his department was able to pull together resources in order to reimburse farmers last year and hopes to continue that program this year.

With the flooding that occurred this summer almost on a weekly basis, McDonnell addressed some of the issues in areas where he said, a 100-year flood may be happening three times in a summer. He talked about dredging, offering it not as the only solution, but as part of a solution.

McDonnell argued it could be a good idea in some cases. But, in other situations, when too much is dredged, it increases energy in the stream, which in turn leads to erosion and causes a larger problem.

Harry Rogers, of Wolf Township, attended the event and related the problems with flooding this summer along local creeks.

“We got hammered this year. We had 40-plus inches of rain in 40 days. I’m waiting for an ark to float by. Basically we have some extremely bad areas along Muncy Creek that need to be worked on,” Rogers said. “We need help to get these streams done.”

The secretary said his department definitely wants to help.

“Talk to us, absolutely. We want to work with and figure out help in specific areas. And part of the message around all of this is that none of this is one solution. There isn’t one thing that you go across the northcentral region watershed and in this spot and this spot that the answers are all the same. It is really about those areas by areas,” McDonnell said.