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Inland Bays’ Citizens Advisory Group to present 'Tax Ditches 101' May 16

May 9, 2013

The Citizens Advisory Committee of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays invites the public to attend at 5 p.m., Thursday, May 16, at the CIB headquarters on Inlet Road north of Indian River Inlet bridge for presentations on tax ditches and agricultural restoration projects.

Matthew T. Grabowski, program manager for the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Division of Watershed Stewardship Drainage Program, will present “Tax Ditches 101,” an introduction to Delaware’s unique tax ditch program.

Tax ditches are a part of the landscape in south coastal Delaware. For the Inland Bays, they provide both challenges and opportunities. They are important for maintaining farmland for crop production and to prevent flooding, but they can transport excess nutrients off the land to receiving waters. “Tax ditches present unique opportunities for restoration projects aimed at improving water quality in the Inland Bays,” said Chris Bason, CIB executive director.

The second presentation by Amy Jacobs, watershed restoration director for The Nature Conservancy’s Chesapeake Bay Program, will focus on restoration projects on agricultural land to reduce nutrients and sediments and enhance water quality. Her recent work has focused on the Pocomoke River Watershed in Maryland, but previously, she spent 11 years with DNREC leading the Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program.

Nancy Santos, CAC chair and an officer of the CIB Board of Directors, said, “One of the goals of the CAC is to provide opportunities for CAC members and interested citizens to learn about issues and practices that affect water quality in the Inland Bays and to use that knowledge and information to effect change.”

The Inland Bays Citizens Advisory Committee is a standing committee of the Center for the Inland Bays. Its purpose is to bring issues of public concern related to protection of the Inland Bays to the CIB’s Board of Directors. Interested and concerned citizens are encouraged to attend these public meetings.

For more information call Sally Boswell at 226-8105, email outreach@inlandbays.org or go to www.inlandbays.org.

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