News
Farmers water quality efforts take time
The Director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture says farmers throughout the Western Lake Erie Basin are stepping up to improve water quality but it takes time.
Jamie Clover Adams tells Brownfield the Lake Erie impairment declaration was made last week after water quality standards required under the Clean Water Act were not met. “The impairment lasts as long as there is an impairment and that is frankly one of my concerns, ‘How do we know when we’ve succeeded?’”
She says voluntary conservation practices in place as part of the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program have made a difference in the River Raisin in the basin. Researchers this year announced a 36 percent decline in total phosphorus loading in the watershed since 2008.
Clover Adams says more research is needed on dissolved reactive phosphorus and how it’s moving through the water. “When we figure that out then we can set up best management practices that we can recommend to farmers. Perhaps it is doing the traditional buffer strips or cover crop, but maybe there’s something that’s a little bit different that needs to be done to keep as much phosphorus as possible on the land.”
She says the 135,000 acres in the basin under a nutrient management plan is a good starting point and farmers should continue their efforts to improve water quality.
AUDIO: Interview with Director Jamie Clover Adams
Add Comment