The Dukes Soil Conservation District has received a grant to evaluate the agricultural portion of the Tisbury Great Pond Massachusetts Estuaries Project nitrogen load. The nitrogen from agricultural sources has been determined to be over 40 per cent of the total load, exceeding wastewater sources.

The District has contracted with Don Liptack, former regional District Conservationist with USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, to carry out a survey of all farmers in the watershed.

Survey contacts will begin next week. Partners in the project include the MV Agricultural Society, Island Grown Initiative, the Polly Hill Arboretum, the MV Commission and the Conservation Commissions of Chilmark and West Tisbury.