A November 20 Easton Star Democrat article reported on the third installment of a four-part lecture series titled “Living and Working by the Bay.”  The lecture series is hosted by the Talbot County Free Library and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  The third installment focused on septic system pollution going into the Chesapeake Bay and how to reduce it.

Erik Fisher, the Maryland land use planner for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, started the lecture explaining that in order for the Bay to be sustainable and meet the 2025 goal set forth in the Maryland Clean Water Blueprint, Maryland needs to have a decrease of 11 million pounds of nitrogen in its annual output. Of that 11 million pounds, septic systems alone need to decrease nitrogen pollution by 1.2 million pounds.  …

Dr. Thomas Fisher, professor from the University of Maryland Center for Enviromental [sic] Studies, then talked about water quality and how testing the water quality in different parts of the watershed can help understand the measures needed to improve the Bay.  …

Jim Lewis, senior agent of agriculture and natural resources at the Caroline County Agricultural Extension of the University of Maryland, talked about his plans to experiment with the planting of switchgrass on and around septic systems to absorb nitrogen.

The article states that the final lecture in the series will occur on Monday, November 25 and focus on the lives of watermen.