The Long-Term Picture Governmental reorganization and possible new revenue sources aside, it’s clear nitrate contamination is some- thing offi cials will be dealing with for the near future and beyond. “Even if we were to cease agricul- tural activity on the surface it would be decades as that load made its way down to the groundwater table, so it’s a problem that will be around for quite a while,” Howard with the State Water Board said.


Halting further nitrate contamina- tion means curbing it at the source. The UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) is look- ing to send certifi ed crop advisors to school to teach them the fi ner points of nutrient management to pass along to individual growers.


“It’s never easy to fi gure out how to raise revenue and funding sources. We have to have those diffi cult


discussions.” – Laurel Firestone,


Community Water Center


“While we know that farmers have already begun employing techniques to reduce the amount of nitrogen fertil- izer that can ultimately end up in our groundwater, we also know that there are additional actions that can be taken,” said Doug Parker, director of the U.C. California Institute for Water Resources and leader for the UC ANR water strategic initiative.


Listen to more of the interview with Laurel Firestone


The training program coincides with efforts the U.C. Cooperative Extension already does to see that growers apply fertilizers evenly and economically. According to informa- tion from the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, growers can reduce nitrate loading through ir- rigation and fertilizer management, but meeting a concentration standard in all water discharges is impossible and “may undervalue agronomic improvements.” Parker said the educational op- portunity was borne from negotiations between the East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition and the Central Valley Regional Board, the process by which conditional discharge waivers are issued in exchange for farmers tak- ing measures to protect water quality. In particular, talks for a nitrogen man- agement plan for growers in high-risk areas in the eastern San Joaquin Valley sparked the idea of having certifi ed


12


crop advisers on board for management plan consulting and verifi cation. “Right now, we have an outline of the curriculum,” Parker said, adding “a lot of it is things we already know.” It is expected that as many as 600 crop advisors will undergo the training throughout the state. Parker said “it’s always a good question” whether growers employ the knowledge passed on by the crop advi- sors. “What we are told is that growers will have a nitrogen management plan that will look at how they use nitro- gen – what kind of fertilizer they use, when they apply it, how they apply it, how they irrigate … and those will be signed off,” he said. “The nitrogen management plans will have to be done every year, so when they do it for the next year, they will actually have to fi ll in, ‘what did I do last year’ because changes in weather or economic condi- tions mean that you don’t always follow the plan you thought you were going to follow.”


Finding the means to help fi nance projects for DACs will take work in today’s austere fi scal climate.


Former Democratic Assemblymem- ber Johan Klehs in 2006 unsuccessfully tried to increase the fee on fertilizer to fund remediation for nitrate contami- nation. A committee analysis of his bill found that improvements in fertilizer composition and irrigation practices meant that less of it was getting into groundwater and that non-farm use of fertilizer had increased by more than 60 percent between 2001 and 2005. Increasing the fee on fertilizer “assumes groundwater degradation is attributable to farms alone, as the cost of assessments will be absorbed by growers,” the analysis said. The Legis- lature “may wish to consider whether implementing a polluter pays principle is the most appropriate policy action, when other sources may contribute to groundwater degradation.”


Klehs, who served in the Assembly for 14 years, said raising revenue to pay for the problems caused by nitrate con- tamination requires careful planning and persistence.


Western Water


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15