The Chesapeake Bay has shaped Virginia’s identity from the beginning and continues to be a most valued resource for those of us who call Virginia home. Formed approximately 18,000 years ago, the bay is one of the most ecologically significant estuaries in the world, home to over 3,600 species. Today, the Chesapeake Bay is a vital economic driver for Virginia, supporting the seafood industry, recreation and tourism. Protecting the bay is a tall and stubborn order for the states within its watershed, with nutrient pollution as a top concern. Farming is a cornerstone of Virginia’s economy and essential to feeding America, but with this comes intensive land use that utilizes heavy fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. Livestock grazing in or near waterways remains a persistent issue on our pasture lands when not managed properly. But urban areas have a lot to improve as well: Richmond discharges about 1.9 billion gallons of stormwater mixed with raw sewage into the James River annually, which is legally permissible until 2035. From every angle, the bay’s historical and ecological significance underscores the importance of protecting and preserving this treasured natural resource for future generations as Virginia works to power our growth with cleaner energy. So many activities and developments have the potential to impact the bay, but in all of these cases, we do not ban folks from farming or families from building new homes. Rather, we work to mitigate their detrimental impacts. The same thoughtful approach is applied to solar energy projects, ensuring their implementation minimizes environmental impacts while supplying the essential energy Virginians need. Within the watershed, solar energy has emerged as a clean energy resource and a new land use, but some critics mischaracterize it as dirty or polluting. While some early solar projects did fail to adequately address stormwater and erosion control problems, solar farms are now subject to stringent environmental regulations regarding runoff. This progress deserves recognition. In 2022, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) released a memo altering the way that stormwater controls are calculated. This memo stated the DEQ would treat solar panel arrays the same as a parking lot: an impervious surface that does not allow water to absorb into the ground. Despite the fact that the area under solar panels is almost entirely an undeveloped grassy meadow, this policy shift means that solar project plans need to incorporate phased construction, expedient soil stabilization with ground cover, and the creation of sediment basins to prevent sediments from ever leaving the sites. The policy change reiterated Virginia’s commitment to bay conservation. Solar projects are required to be designed and constructed to uphold water quality and quantity levels from pre-development through post-development. As these sites are developed, they will be adhering to high standards that would not be required if these areas were farmed or timbered. This should be counted as a win for the bay — an acre under panel is an acre that will not contribute to bay pollution. Working with state regulators, clean energy has made significant advancements in best management practices to mitigate these issues, leading to stricter regulations for solar energy projects than comparable land uses.The General Assembly went even further in 2022 by passing House Bill 206 with bipartisan support. This law aims to mitigate the potential impacts of utility-scale solar projects on solar agricultural and timber lands. Over the past two years, the DEQ has convened two advisory panels to help craft these updated regulations. These amendments will soon be open for public comment, with final regulations expected by the end of 2024. At our core, Energy Right remains an all-of-the-above energy organization. All forms of energy deserve a level playing field to compete for inclusion in our increasingly clean grid. It’s clear that solar farms come with distinct advantages in addition to waterway conservation like facilitating dual land uses. Projects often support pollinator-friendly vegetation with native species. Quail populations are taking to these native grasses after farming and timbering practices made the bobwhite a rarity in the commonwealth. Solar farms allow for agricultural activities beneath the panels like sheep grazing, with many thousands of acres of solar actively grazed by sheep for vegetation control. Solar arrays preserve open space and allow for landowners to diversify their income with minimal impact on neighbors. In contrast with other forms of development, solar presents a distinct conservation advantage: eventual removal. Unlike neighborhoods or industrial development, which permanently removes farmland and forests, solar projects are decommissioned at the end of their lifecycle. In proper practice, this means solar projects must restore the land to its original state or better, ensuring its ecological integrity is preserved for future generations to farm or reforest. Solar can actively contribute to conservation efforts while offering a reversible land-use solution that preserves rural lands and aligns with Virginia’s environmental goals. While it’s important to acknowledge that some solar projects have faced challenges in the past, we must recognize that recent regulations address the frequent critiques and fears of solar energy projects. Solar is a new industry to the Virginia countryside, and therefore an easy one to criticize or doubt. Every land use from farming, to timbering, to more intensive development brings both benefits and burdens. When integrated thoughtfully, solar energy represents a commitment to providing cleaner, more abundant, Virginia-made energy to our homes and businesses while promoting sustainable land use practices that protect the Chesapeake Bay. We can achieve both clean energy and conservation — it’s not a matter of choosing one over the other. Chloe Hodges directs external affairs for Energy Right, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that provides education to rural Virginia on clean energy from a conservative perspective. Learn more at EnergyRightVA.com.The post Solar energy and the Chesapeake Bay: a balanced approach to growth and conservation appeared first on Cardinal News.