NORWICH – Four Chenango County farms will receive a boost of financial support to clean up their operation this year in connection to a federal push to eradicate pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay.

State legislators announced in June that the Chenango County Soil and Water Conservation District will receive a total $515,050 in 2014 to assist the four farms located in the townships of Greene, Sherburne, Pharsalia, and Guilford. The grant is just a small portion of $13.8 million allocated to soil and water conservation districts to improve water quality at more than 200 farms across the state.

According to the Chenango County SWCD, funds will help farmers in their efforts to become better stewards without hindering the economic viability of their farms.

“The goal is to bring medium-sized farms in the county up to state regulation and reduce the pollution that flows south into the Chesapeake,” explained Chenango County SWCD District Manager Lance Lockwood.

Environmental regulations for farms became more stringent in 2010, when President Barack Obama issued an executive order to increase cleanup efforts for the Chesapeake, and reduce amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus – two key pollutants in New York’s waterways that come from farms and wastewater facilities. Water runoff from local farms impacts the Chenango and Unadilla rivers, which then flow into the Susquehanna River and empties into the Chesapeake just south of the Pennsylvania border.