Agricultural activities are permitted in the Buffer
if, as a minimum best management practice, a twenty-five-foot vegetated
filter strip measured landward from the mean high water line of tidal
waters or tributary streams (excluding drainage ditches), or from
the edge of tidal wetlands, whichever is further inland, shall be
established prior to the commencement of any such agricultural activities.
The filter strip shall conform to the following minimum standards:
(a)
The filter strip shall be composed of either
trees with a dense ground cover or a thick sod of grass.
(b)
The filter strip shall be expanded a distance
of four feet for every 1% of slope, for slopes greater than 6%.
(c)
The filter strip shall be maintained until such
time as the landowner is implementing, under an approved soil conservation
and water quality plan, a program of best management practices for
the specific purpose of improving water quality and protecting plant
and wildlife habitat; and provided that the portion of the soil conservation
and water quality plan being implemented achieves the water quality
and habitat protection objectives of the filter strip.