Mid-Atlantic Regional Water Program

Mid-Atlantic Agricultural Ammonia Forums

There is awareness by the agricultural community of the ecological problems associated with nutrient over enrichment, specifically nitrogen, in coastal and estuarine waters. Historically, outreach and technical assistance on nutrient management has focused attention on losses of soluble nitrogen from manure and fertilizer directly to ground and surface waters. However nitrogen, primarily in the form of ammonia, is also lost to the atmosphere where it can deposit back to land and water surfaces. Studies in Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle-Pamlico Sounds, and Tampa Bay have indicated that ammonia emissions may be a significant (and growing) source of nitrogen loadings to nutrient-enriched ecosystems.

In November 2000, the Chesapeake Bay Program, the EPA Great Waters Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association sponsored a two-day workshop in Dewey Beach, Delaware that examined the ability of existing research and modeling efforts to support the development of policies for managing ammonia. Two primary conclusions from that meeting were: 1) additional research was needed on ammonia quantification and control strategies, and 2) significant public outreach to the agricultural community was needed regarding the importance of ammonia and its role in air and water quality. Since this meeting, several technical forums have been held to address advances in our scientific understanding of ammonia.

The Mid Atlantic Water Quality Program – a cooperative effort of nine Land Grant Universities in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay Program, EPA Region 3, and the Chesapeake Bay Estuarine Research Reserve Program joined together to sponsor three forums, in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, the Eastern Shore of Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, to begin the process of public education regarding the role of ammonia in nutrient pollution, agricultural sources, and emerging control technologies.

Please click on the following links to view the presentations from each forum.

This material is based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2002-51130-01522. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.