Water Quality

Date: 7/07
Position Number: V-B
Expires: 3/08

Background: The quality of water is a critical national issue, and the efficient use of nutrients is essential for profitable crop production.

Resolution/Position.

1. Urge the appropriate federal and state agencies to work with universities, commodity groups and general farm organizations to:
   1. Urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use scientifically sound health-based maximum contaminant levels (MCL) when establishing the rules for restricted use crop protection products and nutrients. State governments should use the federal standards for evaluating any need for remedial action.
   2. Determine the methods and quantities by which contaminants enter water.
   3. Research effects of such contaminants on human health and environment.
   4. Acknowledge that the best way for producers to do their part in protecting the quality of our water resources is through the recommended use and safe handling of fertilizers and crop protection products. Develop and prove best management practices to protect water quality and educate farmers in their implementation.
   5. Make the goal of maintaining and achieving quality water the mutual responsibility of all rural, urban and industrial users of water.
   6. Acknowledge the importance of responsible nutrient use in profitable crop production.
   7. Use state land grant university developed nutrient management recommendations for their programs.
2. Support continued funding for federal non-point source pollution programs authorized by the Clean Water Act.
3. Encourage all contractors, state agencies and individuals to properly close all test wells, abandoned wells and boreholes to protect groundwater.
4. Whether agriculture contributes to hypoxia should be determined based on sound scientific facts. We support the right of growers to voluntarily develop a plan of action to address the agricultural non-point source portion of the plan developed by the interagency task force addressing hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. We believe the plan's goals and objectives can best be administered at the local level through soil and water conservation organizations and farm groups.
5. Support an independent peer review of the original findings that non-point source runoff is the major cause of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.
6. Support voluntary non-point source programs to assist farmers in achieving water quality goals.
7. Support research on the impact of site specific application technology on the environment and
   agriculture.
8. Encourage any guidelines for watershed nutrient management to be constructed through watershed and statewide stakeholder input
   .• State Departments of Agriculture should manage nutrient application issues.
   • Continue promoting programs to educate producers on the benefits and need for voluntary Best
   Management Practices.
9. All Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) implementation plans for watershed protection programs should remain voluntary, be incentive based, and provide for farmer input into the decision-making process concerning TMDL assessment and monitoring.
10. NCGA believes that manure applied on cropland at agronomic rates using Best Management Practices should not be considered point source pollution under the provisions of the Clean Water Act.
11. Water quality cost share assistance programs, such as EQIP, should be made available to livestock/poultry facilities without bias to size or location.
12. Identify water quality, equity and usage- issues that affect corn producers, ultimately leading to future water policies.
13. Support the concept of science-based surface and groundwater monitoring on a local, watershed basis to provide a baseline set of data and to help determine the extent and sources of water quality impairment. Historical monitoring data should be considered when setting nutrient standards for surface water.
14. Encourage EPA to adopt science-based water quality standards that are reasonably attainable for the TMDL process.
15. Encourage farmer involvement and participation in watershed planning committees and state technical committees.
16. Support industry, urban and agricultural practices which continue to minimize sedimentation.