SEMINAR

Peter Landschoot
Penn State University

Nutrient management in the Urban

Environment: Issues for the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, providing critical
habitat for thousands of species of fish, birds, and mammals. As streams and rivers
meander through the mountains and valleys of the enormous 64,000 square mile
Chesapeake Bay watershed, they pick up nutrients and sediment from farms,
wastewater treatment facilities, forests, and developed areas. The rivers eventually
flow into the northern portion of the Bay, where they deposit nutrients and
sediment-enriched water, resulting in oxygen depletion and habitat destruction. In
2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Chesapeake
Bay TMDL Program, which places limits on pollutants and imposes schedules for
pollution reduction plans for the 6 watershed states. This program impacts farm
operations, waste-water treatment facilities and urban/suburban land use. To
provide reasonable assurance that EPAs TMDL nutrient allocations will be met by
2025, the watershed states have begun to impose restrictions on turfgrass fertilizers
and blackout dates for fertilizer applications. States have also initiated nutrient
certification programs for fertilizer applicators. Some state and local governments
are demanding changes in the way urban land is developed and managed. Future
development in urban areas within the Chesapeake Bay watershed is likely to
include smaller lawns, less area as impervious surfaces, rain gardens, buffer strips,
and diverse plantings.

September 24, 3:30 pm HORT 117

Reception at 3:10 pm HORT 117
If you are interested in meeting with the speaker, please contact Jennifer Deiser at 41301 or
jdeiser@purdue.edu

Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture