CCI is partnering with a broad range of partners to develop a strategy to implement new, emerging and effective technologies for management, recycling or disposal of organic wastes for the Shenandoah Valley watershed in Virginia. In addition to CCI, the collaborative, diverse planning committee includes faculty from Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Engineering and Virginia Cooperative Extension; scientists and policy planners from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and other non-governmental conservation organizations; leaders of agricultural associations, including the Virginia State Dairymen's Association, the Virginia Farm Bureau and the Virginia Poultry Federation; leaders of municipal organizations; and personnel from four state agencies related to agriculture, health, and conservation/environmental quality.

Specifically, these partners are developing a facilitated, outcome-based Waste Solutions Forum to be held in the spring of 2005 to incorporate expertise from across the country and develop specific options for utilization of excess manures and organic wastes in the Shenandoah Valley Watershed. We will bring together 75 to 100 stakeholders from the region with experts from across the country to identify workable solutions and an action plan for moving ahead. The forum will culminate in a list of strategies and commitments for managing excess manures. While these options are envisioned to provide utility throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region, and particularly the Chesapeake Bay watershed, participants will be tasked with carrying these options forward in the Shenandoah Valley Watersheds.

The first phase of the project, to last one year, includes compilation of background information, preparation for the Waste Solutions Forum, holding the forum, and post-forum ratification and information dissemination. The implementation phase, to begin in September 2005, will last for at least three years and will include producer training (workshops, field days, demonstration projects), basic and applied research (developing and testing waste solutions), and development of commercial and/or cooperative waste treatment facilities serving dairy, swine and poultry producers in the Shenandoah Valley. There will likely be 400-500 total livestock producers involved in these events.