Saving the Bay

This is what good governance looks like.

Kaine broached the farm proposal at the annual meeting of bay state governors, who guide the regional bay restoration effort. It comes on the heels of a commitment from farmers to ante up private funds to help the bay.

"We ought to take advantage of that cooperation [among farmers] when we have it," he said. He said he will give details on the amount set aside for farm runoffs at a Dec. 17 budget planning meeting with state legislators.

A coalition of farm groups says it will put up more than $600 million to control farmland pollution if the state will use tax money to generate $100 million for the effort.

The money would pay for conservation tilling equipment designed to reduce erosion and combat the bay's chief pollutant -- nutrients. It also would subsidize planting of forest buffers and cover crops that capture nitrogen and phosphorous found in fertilizers and animal manure.

Farmland generates about 40 percent of the nutrient pollution that reaches the bay. There, it acts like a fertilizer to fuel algae blooms and other problems that harm water quality.

The state has used incentive funds for years to help farmers improve their practices, but farmers say the fund is chronically underfunded. Typically, farmers who want to participate are rejected because of a lack of state funds.

This year, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation has a record $18 million at its disposal to help farmers.