California’s dairy industry is grappling with a significant environmental challenge. Nitrogen from cow manure is increasingly being found in locations where it poses potential health risks, a situation acknowledged by environmentalists, regulatory bodies, and the dairy sector alike.
The overabundance of nitrogen transforms into nitrates, which infiltrate the soil, contaminate waterways, and seep into the groundwater. This contamination has severely impacted drinking water in California’s Central Valley, with 40 percent of wells in some counties exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s safety limits, leading to health concerns such as miscarriages and infant deaths.
The State Water Board is expected to release a long-awaited draft order in the next two months aimed at addressing this issue.
An initial draft from October 2024 introduced a framework compelling Central Valley dairies to adhere to a nitrate standard of 10 milligrams per liter for drinking water. It also proposed new regulations for waste storage, manure application, and providing alternative drinking water when necessary.
“The fundamental requirement is that these operations have to figure out how to get to some level of whole-farm balance where they’re not creating more waste than they can deal with on an annual basis,” said Nathaniel Kane, executive director at the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), an organization that initiated a petition in 2013 urging a review of the Central Valley’s dairy waste rules.
The Central Valley Water Board, which oversees 1,300 dairies, has been regulating waste under a 2013 rule established after a lawsuit from ELF and the Asociación de Gente Unida por el Agua (AGUA). This lawsuit highlighted the board’s non-compliance with state water protection laws.
After the lawsuit, the State Water Board reviewed the Central Valley Water Board’s regulations and found them still lacking in some areas, prompting a revised 2024 draft order.
The draft order, informed by a 2019 report, indicated a “fundamental shift” in understanding the sources of nitrogen pollution. Contrary to previous assumptions that waste retention pools were the primary culprits, the report identified that 94% of nitrogen contamination stemmed from manure used as fertilizer on croplands.
Subsequent meetings between industry representatives, environmental groups, and the State Water Board have focused on refining the draft order. “We’re hoping for some stronger language and more specificity around timelines,” said Kane.
The absence of a clear timeline in the 2024 draft for developing new rules is a concern for environmental groups, who suggest a two-year deadline post-adoption of the final order for the Central Valley Water Board to update its rules. They also requested expedited finalization of nitrate loading limits and manure application rates within a year of the order’s adoption.
“There’s a lot of good things about the draft and some things that need to change,” said Michael Claiborne from the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. He emphasized the need for efficient implementation to avoid delays.
The dairy industry also seeks adjustments to the draft. “We’re on board with the whole-farm balance concept,” stated Michael Boccadoro of Dairy Cares, emphasizing the need for practical implementation timelines.
In their letter, Dairy Cares and the California Farm Bureau Federation advocated for the Central Valley Water Board to lead the development of final rule components. They also proposed reevaluating the requirement for dairies to retrofit waste ponds, citing cost concerns and the need to prioritize more impactful pollution control measures.
Patrick Pulupa from the Central Valley Water Board suggested narrowing the draft order’s scope, allowing regional integration of nitrogen standards through existing programs like the Irrigated Lands Program.
However, environmental advocates prefer the State Water Board to maintain oversight, citing past inadequacies in regional board enforcement. “The state board needs to step it up and make the standards more stringent in terms of reporting enforcement in the dairy order,” argued Deborah Sivas of Stanford University’s Environmental Law Clinic.
Phil Wyels of the State Water Board anticipates releasing a revised draft order by March or April, followed by public workshops. Adoption could occur within a few months thereafter, aiming to resolve issues that have persisted for over two decades.
Original Story at insideclimatenews.org