If a group of farmers test the runoff in their fields for nitrates but the results are confidential, has the public good been served? This was one of the questions underlying debate at the July 8 meeting of the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board in Watsonville.
At issue is a proposed law that would require all growers from Santa Cruz to Santa Barbara to monitor the runoff from their fields for chemical contamination that would make water harmful for drinking, swimming and other human activities. The issue of whether those tests should be confidential was a flashpoint. The California Farm Bureau commended a current waiver that supports “confidential and voluntary’’ water quality testing, which allows several growers to test and report cooperatively, or in groups, rather than individually.
“Confidentiality is a very positive incentive because you realize the possibility to make improvements without a hammer over your head,” said one farmer. Another grower with both organic and conventional acreage said confidential testing had enabled him to comply without fear of repercussions.
But activists are leery of extending that proposal in the new law. Steve Shimek of Monterey Coastkeeper suggested possible compromises that could be added to the draft to appease farmers, saying that perhaps their tests could remain confidential for the first two years. He also proposed a tiered approach that would allow those dischargers not in “hot spots” to continue to test cooperatively. But he remained opposed to allowing all growers to test cooperatively, saying they must be held responsible. “The most profitable land is the most impaired,” he said.
The ground and surface water of the Central and Salinas Valleys have been significantly polluted over the past several decades by heavy nitrate fertilizer and pesticide use, and board members said the clean-up will not be immediate.
“We hope to see a trend develop,” said board chairman Jeffrey Young. “We cannot clean this up in four to five years.”
Among those who came to voice their support for the new rule were residents of San Jerardo, a community outside Salinas that has suffered serious health problems from drinking contaminated water. Human health carried the most weight in the board’s considerations.
“Our highest priority are those impacts to human health. Those require short-term action,” said board member Monica Hunter in her closing remarks. “We have an increasingly urgent problem that needs to be addressed. We can no longer marginalize these issues.”
The staff closed by pointing out that timber, landfills and wastewater treatment plants adhere to strict regulations, while agriculture hasn’t been held to the same standards. “It is our aim to bring agriculture into similar compliance as those dischargers with a high degree of water quality impact,” said water board staff member Lisa McCain.
The board also addressed the timeframe for voting on the rule—already delayed one year—settling on February 2011.
