Protect your property with riparian buffers

Protecting Virginia’s waterways starts right here on you property. Riparian buffers, strips of trees, shrubs, or grasses planted along streams and
rivers.

Help keep our water clean by filtering runoff, trapping sediment, and reducing pollutants before they reach local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.

These natural buffers also:

  • Help stabilize streambanks and reduce erosion
  • Filter excess nutrients and improve water quality
  • Provide valuable habitat for wildlife and support biodiversity

The Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program can help landowners install these conservation practices through financial assistance:

  • Forested buffers – Up to 95% cost-share reimbursement, plus incentive payments of up to $580 per acre.
  • Grass filter strips – Up to 100% cost-share reimbursement, plus an additional $80 per acre incentive.

Healthy streams mean healthier communities, thriving farms, and a stronger Chesapeake Bay.

Contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District to learn how you can participate.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here. 

Lord Fairfax Soil & Water District receives $8.6 million for farm conservation projects

The Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation District (LFSWCD) has been awarded $8.6 million in state funding for agricultural conservation projects during the 2026 program year.

The funding, provided through the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices (VACS) Cost-Share Program, is available exclusively to farmers within the district’s service area.

The VACS program offers financial and technical support to help producers implement conservation practices that improve water quality, protect soil
health, and enhance long-term farm sustainability.

Farmers may receive up to $300,000 in cost-share assistance for more than 60 approved practices, including cover cropping, nutrient management, livestock stream exclusion, and rotational grazing.

The program is administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) in partnership with Virginia’s 47 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs).

Farmers interested in applying should contact their local SWCD. A map of local districts and contact details is available here.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.Â