Carlson tells farmers to stay abreast of water quality issues
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 02/09/2012 3:43 PM
E-mail article | Print version
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Brad Carlson has been on the speaking circuit this winter, talking water quality at agricultural meetings throughout the state.
By planting time, he expects to reach 1,500 farmers.
On Jan. 18, he brought his presentation to the Southeast Minnesota Ag Alliance, which gathered In Rochester for its annual meeting.
Carlson talked about the Clean Water Act and its implications for farmers.
The federal Clean Water Act was adopted in 1972. It was initially targeted toward factories polluting water. In 1987, Section 319 was added to deal with non-point sources of pollution.
Technically speaking, non-point compliance is voluntary, Carlson said. However, compliance regarding septic systems, feedlots, pesticide labels and wetlands isn't voluntary.
The Clean Water Act deals with pollutants in watersheds. The size of a watershed isn't well defined, Carlson said. There is some interest in moving to a one-waters approach, which would look at bigger watersheds. The move would make it difficult to measure pollutants and make it more complicated to measure which activities are making a difference to water quality improvement.
In Minnesota, the 7050 rule governs water quality protection standards. It defines the order of water use, with class one being the highest use. Class two is fishable and swimmable and class 2b is everything else.
Nitrates aren't part of the 7050 rules, Carlson said, but there is a proposal to set a nitrate standard at 3 ppm for trout streams. He questions whether this can be achieved. The standard for nitrate in drinking water is 10 ppm.
On the federal level, society has tried to blame hypoxia on agriculture, Carlson said, saying the increased nitrogen in the Gulf of Mexico is coming from the farm fields in the Mississippi and Ohio River Watersheds.
A push is on to include nitrates in the Clean Water Act, he said. Pollutants identified in the Clean Water Act include pesticides, fecal coliform and sediment.
Water monitoring varies throughout the state, with some routine monitoring, some random and some citizen. A different occurrence threshold exists for each impairment.
Minnesota was the first state in the nation to find an acetechlor violation. It occurred in the Beauford Ditch Watershed in Blue Earth County.
Since the 1990s, Minnesota has been developing Total Maximum Daily Load reports to address impairments on the state's lakes and rivers. Forty percent of all waters tested in the state are impaired, Carlson said.
It's important farmers get involved in the TMDL process from the start, he said. Usually a technical committee is created to deal with the nuts and bolts issues of cleaning up the water and a stakeholder group that identifies problems and concerns.
Don't wait until the draft document is prepared to get involved, Carlson said, because by then it's too late to make a difference.
Farmers need to know key people in the county who work with water issues, volunteer to be involved and educate themselves on what's happening in the water quality arena.
On the farm, farmers need to follow best management practices, be aware of where their water runs off and work to reduce runoff.
Pay attention to what's happening locally, Carlson said.