Agricultural Issues By Julieta Carrillo Nonpoint Source

Agricultural Issues By: Julieta Carrillo

Nonpoint Source Pollution • Caused from many diffuse sources, refers to both water and air pollution • Is a result of land runoff; as water sources travel through land, they pick up human-made pollutants and deliver them to bodies of water • Nonpoint source pollution includes fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides associated with agricultural lands • Agriculture also provokes nonpoint source pollution due to overgrazing, unsuitable animal feeding operations, and improper plowing techniques • The pollutants that farming and ranching engender are: -Sediment -Nutrients -Pathogens -Pesticides -Metals -Salts

Sedimentation • Occurs when rain water transports sediment, which is essentially soil particles, to neighboring lakes/streams • Damages of sediment: -Clouds water -Has the ability to clog the gills of fish • If fertilizers and pesticides are an aspect of the sediment, they will go along with it as well • This poses a threat to aquatic life, reduces water quality The image to the left is an example of sedimentation in Chattahoochee River, Atlanta, Georgia.

Nutrients • Chemical fertilizers, manure, and sludge often contain nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium • Usually end up in ecosystem • End result= Algae • Produces malodorous, distasteful water • Harms/kills fish • Baby blue syndrome

Animal Feeding Operations 238, 00 animal feeding operations in U. S. Poor water quality Waste drainage can reach ground water 500 million tons of manure annually Pathogens (include bacteria) delivered into the water New Mexico is actually the seventh largest milk producing state Is made up by large-scale dairies New Mexico also obtains “the highest average number of animals per facility of any state in the country” End result= 5. 6 million gallons of manure daily Pollutes the groundwater

Animal Feeding Operations • There approximately 150 diaries in New Mexico • 2/3 of this quantity is polluting groundwater due to nitrogen • Diary Row, located in the midst of Las Cruces and El Paso, contains an estimated amount of 30, 000 cows • These cows live in farms alongside one another • The cow’s manure manages to end up in the Rio Grande because of storms, which is essentially a form of non point source pollution • Situated in southeastern New Mexico, inhabitants of the town of Dexter are forced to buy gallon bottles of water to drink from and cook with, given that the local well water is contaminated • Not only is groundwater contaminated, surface water is as well An image of Dairy Row, taken in southwest New Mexico.

Overgrazing • Increases erosion • Harmful to fish habitat • Threaten “floodplain vegetation necessary for habitat and water quality filtration”

Irrigation • Has the ability to create issues concerning water quality • Immoderate irrigation gives way to: • -Erosion -The transportation of nutrients -Pesticides • Amount of water that flows naturally is decreased • Its evaporation can lead to the concentration of salts • The picture to the left • was taken in Utah.

Pesticides • Includes insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides • Runoff can make them end up in the water • Dangerous to fish and wildlife • Can spoil food sources • Destructive towards habitats

The Rio Grande Basin • Measure 1, 896 miles • Runs from the Southwestern portion of Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico • In New Mexico, the river is parallel to the towns and cities of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Socorro, Truth or Consequences, Mesilla, and Las Cruces • Due to the fact that the Rio Grande is an interstate stream, it dispenses drinking water to approximately 30 million people, given that it flows through countless towns and cities of each state it traverses • Although the fair distribution of the river is critical, the majority of it is consumed for agricultural purposes • The primary use of the Rio Grande Basin actually traces back to irrigation • To allocate water to arid regions, irrigation canals have been constructed, transferring water from the river to the very soil utilized for farming

The Rio Grande Basin • This systematic transportation of water records back to the 17 th and 18 th centuries, when the Spanish colonists instituted an arrangement of irrigation ditches • These ditches, also referred to as acequias, have created manifold irrigation techniques • One method of irrigation that derives from acequias is known as flood irrigation • In this process, gravity is used to efficiently distribute water over the soil surface • This form of irrigation is extremely traditional and has been practiced for centuries, often with buckets full of water • The Rio Grande is now one of the top ten most endangered rivers in the world An acequia located in Albuquerque.

The Rio Grande Basin • Unfortunately, the fact that most of the water is actually used for irrigation has created a local and threatening problem • The amount of pollution in the basin is making both the fish within the water and the water itself too hazardous for humans to ingest • The current agriculture use of the Rio Grande is eliminating the recreational use of the river and depriving the locals from two fundamental sources of food • The tribes and indigenous communities alongside the basin have been affected in the sense that their values of conserving nature are being challenged with the new damaging change surrounding them • The Rio Grande silvery minnow (a species of fish native to the water) are at risk, having once inhabited 2, 400 river miles in New Mexico • Irrigation is damaging to ecosystems and wildlife

Source • "Agricultural Nonpoint Source Fact Sheet. " EPA. N. p. , 2 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http: //water. epa. gov/polwaste/nps/agriculture_facts. cfm>. • http

14 July 22, 2012 Footer text here

15 July 22, 2012 Footer text here