Minnesota Gov. announces plan to protect drinking water from ag pollution with nitrate fertilizer restrictions - Entrepreneur Generations

Star Tribune map; click the image to enlarge it.

"In an effort to stem the rise of nitrate pollution in rural Minnesota, Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday laid out a plan to balance farmers’ use of fertilizer with the protection of groundwater and drinking water supplies," Josephine Marcotty reports for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.

The plan follows a year of debate among farmers, environmentalists and other interested parties on how to best address the problem of nitrate contamination in drinking water. High nitrates levels have been found in dozens of municipal water systems and one-tenth of private wells, especially in southeastern and central parts of the state.

 Nitrate run-off from the Mississippi River, which originates in Minnesota, feeds a yearly algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico that sucks the oxygen out of a lengthy swath along the Gulf Coast, killing some aquatic life in the food chain. And back in Minnesota, nitrates in drinking water can cause the potentially fatal blue baby syndrome and other health conditions.

"Yet curbing farm chemicals is not easy in a state where agriculture contributes $19 billion annually to the economy — much of it tied to the 800,000 tons of fertilizer farmers use on some 16 million acres," Marcotty reports.

In the newest version of the plan, released by Dayton and Agriculture Commissioner Dave Fredrickson, farmers' use of nitrogen fertilizers would be limited by both voluntary and mandatory means, especially in the fall and winter when nitrates are most likely to leach into groundwater because there are no crops to soak them up. Exceptions to the rule will be made for certain crops that require nitrogen in the fall, and for areas where there are few crops or the soil isn't prone to nitrate leaching. This will be the first time the state has attempted to regulate farmers' use of fertilizer. The state restricts the use of phosphorus fertilizer on lawns already.

Republican legislators panned the new version, calling it a "reactionary re-branding of a vastly unpopular rule" in a statement. The public will be encouraged to give their opinions about the new plan at public meetings to be scheduled this summer.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2Hn0tXk Minnesota Gov. announces plan to protect drinking water from ag pollution with nitrate fertilizer restrictions - Entrepreneur Generations

Posted by Entrepreneur Generations

Tweet