Structural Erosion Control System in the Town of Manchester

A farm in the Town of Manchester has been experiencing sheet and gully erosion from stormwater runoff after severe weather events. For this site, Ontario County SWCD recently installed 3 farmable water and sediment control basins (WASCOBs) with underground outlets that total 4,000 ft. The goal is to slow the water moving off the field in a manageable volume over time while limiting how much land is taken out of production. The basins will temporarily retain up to 500,000 gallons of stormwater runoff, allowing the outlets to slowly release the water while trapping the sediment in the basin and keeping the top soil in the field. The project will reduce soil loss on the site by over 100 tons per year. These basins were supported by Round 18 of the Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) Base program Tier 4 cost-share implementation funds.