The state Department of Ecology is telling Eastern Washington landowners what staff members look for when assessing water quality on farms and ranches.
The department is developing a guidance document for landowners, said Brook Beeler, communication manager for Ecology’s eastern regional office in Spokane.
“The guidance describes how field staff evaluate streamside vegetation and document site conditions we know contribute to water pollution,” Beeler said. “Staff look for and record these visual indicators of water pollution.”
The department will finalize the guidance with feedback from the agriculture and water quality advisory committee. The department will present the guidance to the committee Feb. 19 at Ecology headquarters in Lacey, Wash.
The guidance will be available to landowners and producers on Ecology’s website, Beeler said.
A department watershed field evaluation data sheet indicates Ecology staff will look for:
• Bare ground.
• Active or potential contaminated runoff.
• Slumping streambanks and erosion.
• Overgrazing of grasses.
• Absence of woody riparian vegetation.
• Manure accumulations.
• Livestock access to surface water.
• Livestock paths and trails in riparian areas.
Beeler said Ecology staff use the field data sheet to collect field notes and as a checklist to capture information in a consistent and objective manner. Staff can prioritize sites and follow up with landowners to offer options and funding to help fix water pollution problems, she said.
The checklist is not a self-assessment tool for growers, but for staff to record field notes,she said. The data sheet may change slightly to make sure it uses the same language as the landowner guidance, she said.
Ecology staff will be out in the field this spring, Beeler said. In January, the department posted its focus areas in Eastern Washington: Blue Mountain streams, Hangman Creek, the north and south forks of the Palouse River, Snake River tributaries in Whitman County and the Walla Walla River.
Toni Meacham, executive director of the Washington Agriculture Legal Foundation and a member of the advisory committee, said having the field data sheet allows landowners the opportunity to know exactly what Ecology staff is looking for.
“This document clearly indicates the triggers that DOE is looking for when they send out noncompliance letters to landowners,” Meacham said. “For the first time landowners actually know what DOE is looking for.”
Meacham advises landowners use the field data sheet, the guidance document provided by the advisory committee and a risk assessment tool provided by Washington State University Extension rangeland and livestock specialist Tip Hudson to do a self-assessment and develop a management plan.
“Landowners need to be aware that water quality enforcement is continual and make management decisions accordingly,” Meacham said. “I would be more concerned if we didn’t have this document and were still in the dark as to when DOE is coming out to assess and what they are looking for.”
Source: www.capitalpress.com