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Experts clarify value of water quality
Farmers, ranchers under pressure from public, government
Tim Hearden
Capital Press
February 12, 2009
 |
| Drilling crews punch a monitoring well at the Longfellow Dairy near Hanford, Calif. The well is part of a study to track groundwater pollution and determine the source. - Capital Press file photo |
How
important is it for farmers and ranchers to think about water quality and
preserving natural resources?
Very, says Gary Wolff, a former member of the California Water Resources Control Board.
"I heard a quote recently that said, 'Green is the new red, white and blue,'" Wolff told an audience at the California Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting in December. "In the long-term picture, that's the truth. We're going to be clean, green and prosperous, or we're going to be in a world of hurt."
Wolff's statement helps underscore the premium many farmers and ranchers now place on maintaining water quality in the rivers and streams that feed their land.
The conservation efforts serve two purposes: to ward off the wrath of regulatory agencies like the water board and to meet the demands of an environmentally conscious public.
Closed water systems, streambank restoration projects, constructed wetlands and other efforts are in growers' toolboxes as they try to enhance their images as stewards of the land.
"Whether it's water quality or some other aspect of ranching, there are expectations from society of sustainable management," said Ken Tate, a rangeland watershed specialist for the University of California-Davis. "I think any rancher has to think about these aspects of management."
Maintaining water quality was the topic of a recent seminar hosted by Tate and other UC-Davis water experts, who discussed optimal ways to manage rangeland and farmland.
In California alone, many of the state's 779 water bodies suffer from one or more of 2,237 different "impairments," said Randy Dahlgren, a professor of biogeochemistry at UC-Davis. More than 450 water bodies in California show levels of pesticides, the state's most common pollutant, he said.
Other contaminants range from metals from abandoned mines to nutrients and sediments, he said. With grazing comes the potential for feces that contain E. coli, giardia and other parasites, the scientists said.
Measures that can be taken on rangelands include preventing cattle from defecating in or near the stream, waiting several days after grazing to irrigate to avoid contaminated runoff and moving the cows and calves out before major storms, Tate said.
A growing number of farmers in California's Central Valley are using constructed wetlands to filter tailwaters, a trend largely driven by their popularity as habitat for ducks and other wildlife, said Toby O'Geen, a soil resource specialist at UC-Davis.
"These things are tremendous success stories in terms of removing sediment from tailwater," O'Geen said, adding that a large wetland can remove up to 85 percent of nitrates. "This is a really positive practice for irrigated agriculture."
Water quality is a key component of success for Tim DeAtley, co-owner of the Bar Eleven Ranch in the rural hills east of Redding, Calif. DeAtley has used funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service and other sources to construct several water-quality features on his 1,825-acre ranch.
A "closed" water system continuously recycles water that runs down into a pond and is pumped back into the fields for growing forage and hay. The system has been valuable as drought conditions have drastically reduced available irrigation water from nearby Clover Creek.
DeAtley has also done projects to stop streambank erosion along the creek and plans to install fencing to keep cattle out of riparian areas. His efforts recently earned him the distinction of being one of the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition's five Guardians of the Range.
He said the efforts are important to his business' bottom line.
"These are the best things going on any farm right now," DeAtley said of his tailwater-recovery system, which includes the impoundment pond as well as pipelines and pumping equipment.
Very, says Gary Wolff, a former member of the California Water Resources Control Board.
"I heard a quote recently that said, 'Green is the new red, white and blue,'" Wolff told an audience at the California Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting in December. "In the long-term picture, that's the truth. We're going to be clean, green and prosperous, or we're going to be in a world of hurt."
Wolff's statement helps underscore the premium many farmers and ranchers now place on maintaining water quality in the rivers and streams that feed their land.
The conservation efforts serve two purposes: to ward off the wrath of regulatory agencies like the water board and to meet the demands of an environmentally conscious public.
Closed water systems, streambank restoration projects, constructed wetlands and other efforts are in growers' toolboxes as they try to enhance their images as stewards of the land.
"Whether it's water quality or some other aspect of ranching, there are expectations from society of sustainable management," said Ken Tate, a rangeland watershed specialist for the University of California-Davis. "I think any rancher has to think about these aspects of management."
Maintaining water quality was the topic of a recent seminar hosted by Tate and other UC-Davis water experts, who discussed optimal ways to manage rangeland and farmland.
In California alone, many of the state's 779 water bodies suffer from one or more of 2,237 different "impairments," said Randy Dahlgren, a professor of biogeochemistry at UC-Davis. More than 450 water bodies in California show levels of pesticides, the state's most common pollutant, he said.
Other contaminants range from metals from abandoned mines to nutrients and sediments, he said. With grazing comes the potential for feces that contain E. coli, giardia and other parasites, the scientists said.
Measures that can be taken on rangelands include preventing cattle from defecating in or near the stream, waiting several days after grazing to irrigate to avoid contaminated runoff and moving the cows and calves out before major storms, Tate said.
A growing number of farmers in California's Central Valley are using constructed wetlands to filter tailwaters, a trend largely driven by their popularity as habitat for ducks and other wildlife, said Toby O'Geen, a soil resource specialist at UC-Davis.
"These things are tremendous success stories in terms of removing sediment from tailwater," O'Geen said, adding that a large wetland can remove up to 85 percent of nitrates. "This is a really positive practice for irrigated agriculture."
Water quality is a key component of success for Tim DeAtley, co-owner of the Bar Eleven Ranch in the rural hills east of Redding, Calif. DeAtley has used funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service and other sources to construct several water-quality features on his 1,825-acre ranch.
A "closed" water system continuously recycles water that runs down into a pond and is pumped back into the fields for growing forage and hay. The system has been valuable as drought conditions have drastically reduced available irrigation water from nearby Clover Creek.
DeAtley has also done projects to stop streambank erosion along the creek and plans to install fencing to keep cattle out of riparian areas. His efforts recently earned him the distinction of being one of the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition's five Guardians of the Range.
He said the efforts are important to his business' bottom line.
"These are the best things going on any farm right now," DeAtley said of his tailwater-recovery system, which includes the impoundment pond as well as pipelines and pumping equipment.
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