Six Chesapeake Bay Watershed jurisdictions – Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and the District of Columbia – are part of a federal-state initiative to develop and implement an overall plan that will help restore the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal waters by 2025. Several states’ watershed implementation plans encourage farmers to adopt best practices including cover crops, forest buffers, and nutrient management plans. These practices, in addition to reducing nitrogen runoff, can also reduce the aeration of nitrous oxide from soils.