Source: http://www.standard.net, October 16, 2013
By: Dana Rimington
A problem may be lurking beneath the surface of farmland soil, and farmers are worried.
The problem, they say, is contaminants that are being sent into storm drains and eventually reach farm irrigation ditches. Farmers pay a high price if they discover their edible crops have been polluted — such a situation forces them to destroy the crop and start over.
“It’s expensive to destroy a crop, but it’s cheaper than a lawsuit on our end if we get people sick,” said Jeremy East, operator of eight farms he leases throughout Davis County.
“In the back of our minds, we know there could be the potential for problems by not knowing what’s in the irrigation water. There is the potential for bad stuff to happen.”
To avoid some problems, East spends around $2,000 to test his water numerous times throughout the year.
He hasn’t encountered any contamination yet, but he is constantly aware of the possibility, knowing his career would pay the ultimate price if his farmland were affected.
“There’s a lot invested into these crops every year, and you don’t normally get a lot back, so it’s scary, because one bad crop could bankrupt anybody,” East said.
When building homes on farmland, developers have to be mindful of the old farm’s drains and irrigation ditches that still reach out to other farmers.
“Our canal company works with most developers to formulate a plan on how to fix the infrastructure they damage. They may cut into a farm, but the guy to the west still needs access to the water or still needs to drain his fields. Developers have to be careful,” East said.
Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency requires states to have a storm drain plan in place and requires developers to devise and follow a water pollution plan, said Jake Jacobson, supervisor of the Davis Conservation District.
“It’s only been within the last year that Davis County now requires their cities to enforce those plans with effective types of structures or some kind of mitigation to prevent trash from getting into storm drains,” Jacobson said.
State and federal regulations protecting irrigation water from stormwater pollution have been in place for several years. However, situations still fall through the cracks, Jacobson said.
“Pollution is still a concern, especially in those areas where developers are pushing the agriculture out. Some contractors may not be aware of the issue, or (they) decide not to bother with it,” he said.
Farmers see the effects of polluted irrigation ditches when stormwater drains have been contaminated with garbage or debris, plastic bags or even oil or paint dumped into street drains.
Kaysville City Engineer Andy Thompson agrees that many people still do not realize the impact they have on irrigation ditches reaching farmland.
“For the common homeowner that overdoes it with their fertilizer, or is not careful and fertilizes their sidewalk, in a storm, it runs off into gutters and into streams that can contaminate our irrigation canals,” he said.
“It is just little everyday things that have the potential to contaminate the water that ends up on our crops, and it’s hard to enforce.
“I think a lot of people don’t pay attention, and when they spill gas or paint, and then hose down their driveway, it goes out to the catch basin in the street, and they don’t realize where it is going.”
To combat issues stemming from developers building on farmland, Kaysville city has enacted strict regulations.
“We try very hard not to allow storm-drain water into irrigation ditches, with only rare circumstances where that is allowed,” Thompson said.
Kaysville began implementing an enforcement program about five years ago by hiring a city stormwater inspector to make sure construction sites are following regulations.
Other cities have similar positions.
Even with regulations and enforcements in place, farmers commonly worry about making sure their food crops are safe and will always be there.
Jacobson said there is a steady movement for farmers to get irrigation ditches into pipes to help alleviate some of those worries.
“This way, they can eliminate the problem, because they are liable. You can’t track down polluters, but you can track down a farmer whose irrigation water is contaminated,” he said.
The real issue, he said, is whether farmers decide it becomes too big of a hassle to worry about the safety of their crops.
“They carry a real financial burden, and they just choose to sell out, and then they don’t have the problem anymore.”