8. Water Resource Protection Factor

This factor measures the relative extent of features related to the protection of water resources on the parcel. The logic for this factor assumes that agricultural land uses have beneficial impacts on adjacent water resources when compared to other land uses (with utilization of appropriate Agricultural Best Management Practices). Two categories of water resources are identified in the system, either (whichever is larger in area, but not both): the proportional area within the FEMA designated 100-year floodplain; or within a 200-foot wide buffer along perennial waterbodies where no floodplain delineation has been made. The proportion of the parcel fitting the factor description is used to determine the factor scale. Perennial waterbodies are designated by solid blue lines on U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps.

Weight = 0.05

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