Agriculture Top Water Polluter, Study Finds Conservation League Says Voluntary Land-Use Practices Not Being Adopted
Agriculture accounts for 45 percent of the pollution sources in the state, says a study by an analysis group at the University of Idaho.
The Idaho Forest, Wildlife and Range Policy Analysis Group has published its study of nonpoint source pollution for legislators and watershed advisory boards to consider.
The organization was formed by the Legislature in 1989 to gather information on natural resources. Jay O’Laughlin heads up the panel which looked at the federally required cleanup of 962 polluted stream segments statewide.
“The goals are pretty lofty but everyone can relate to them,” he said. “It hits home because clean water is one of the cornerstone goals” of environmental legislation.
Idaho is one of 22 states in which conservationists have sued to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to more strictly enforce water quality laws.
The study looks at monitoring and controlling nonpoint source pollution, from practices such as farming and logging where there is not one identifiable origin of the contamination.
Agriculture makes up nearly half of the pollution sources in Idaho. Logging roads and cutting contribute 17 percent.
Logging has been regulated since 1974, but farmers and ranchers have been asked to voluntarily adopt land practices that reduce sedimentation.
“If you have people who will not follow the voluntary program, what do you do about that?” O’Laughlin asked.
Mike Medberry of the Idaho Conservation League said only regulation will clean up the state’s waters.
“Without regulation of the agricultural industry, we will never clean up the more than 900 streams and rivers,” he said. Tax incentives for landowners to reduce nonpoint source pollution are only a good start, he said.
Idaho Farm Bureau spokesman Greg Wilson said farmers and ranchers need time to give their conservation-minded “best management practices” a try, although there will always be those who refuse to adopt those practices.