WHEREAS, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts provide farmers throughout the Commonwealth with education, technical assistance, and incentive programs to encourage nutrient reduction and water quality improvement; and

WHEREAS, the General Assembly passed legislation in 1998 to establish the Clean Water Farm Award Program, which is administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation; and

WHEREAS, the Clean Water Farm Award Program furthers the Commonwealth's water quality goals by recognizing farmers actively engaged in implementing important conservation practices that control nutrients, sediment, and other agricultural nonpoint source pollutants; and

WHEREAS, the Soil and Water Conservation Districts selected local farms across the Commonwealth for recognition in 2016 as winners of the Clean Water Farm Award; and

WHEREAS, 10 of those farms were selected and announced at the December 2016 meeting of the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts by the Department of Conservation and Recreation to represent the Commonwealth's 10 major river basins and to recognize the exemplary efforts of such farms in implementing best management practices; and

WHEREAS, those 10 winners are:

Tommy and Stephanie Shrader, Shrader Farms LLC, Russell County, for the Big Sandy-Upper Tennessee River Basin;

Charles H. Parrish, Jr., Parrish Farms, Inc., Lunenburg County, for the Chowan River Basin;

Lipman Family Farms, Accomack and Northampton Counties, for the Coastal Basin;

Mark Campbell, Deer Creek Farm, Nelson County, for the James River Basin;

Sam Cassell and Mike Cassell, Cassell Family Farms, Wythe County, for the New River Basin;

David and Catherine Rochester, Cool Spring Farm, Loudoun County, for the Potomac River Basin;

Beauregard Farms, Culpeper County, for the Rappahannock River Basin;

Mary Paige Via and Liz Via-Kolinski, Greenview Farm, Patrick County, for the Roanoke River Basin;

Linden and Julia Heatwole, Cherry Grove Farm LLC, Rockingham County, for the Shenandoah River Basin;

George E. Fisher and Sons, Burnley Farm, Inc., Louisa County, for the York River Basin; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend and congratulate the 10 River Basin Grand Winners of the Clean Water Farm Award; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare copies of this resolution for presentation to the 10 River Basin Grand Winners of the Clean Water Farm Award as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for their commitment to conserving the Commonwealth's natural resources and their outstanding conservation achievements.