Agricultural pollution in drinking water

Farmers and environmentalists often have a hard time being friends.  This is especially true when agricultural fertilizers and pesticides are leaching into groundwater systems and drinking water supplies.  Another instance of this was recently reported in the French department of the Vienne just south of the Loire Valley.
 
A biennial report from the Agence régionale santé (ASR) for the Poitou-Charente Region found dangerous levels of nitrates in several local drinking water supplies.  As a result, some drinking water agencies are considering investing in special treatment systems to remove the contaminants.  The ARS found similar contimination from pesticides.

© La Nouvelle République

The article in La Nouvelle Republique (published in Tours) only reported on the release of the ARS study, not on any corrective measures.  So, absent any action, this appears to be where things will remain.  Farmers will continue current practices and drinking water customers will pay higher rates to cover costs of decontamination, effectively providing another form of agricultural subsidy.

The national consumer organization UFC Que Choisir is reported to have initiated some form of legal action, but the article didn’t provide details.

What's in the water?

Earlier this week the Environmental Protection Agency released seriously disconcerting news about water quality in our rivers and streams.  During 2008 and 2009 the agency drew nearly 2,000 samples from all sizes of streams, from the Mississippi River to little rivulets.  Barely a fifth (21%) of these streams could be considered to be in good biological health, meaning that they provided healthy habitats for plants and animals.  Slightly more than a fifth (23%) were judged to be in "fair condition."  But most significantly more than half (55%) were judged to be in "poor condition"; plants and animals struggle to survive in these streams.

What's causing the pollution?  The EPA report stressed two sources.  The first, and probably most important, is nutrient pollution in the form of phosphorus and nitrogen originating in agricultural fertilizers and animal waste products, and to some extent from urban waste waters.  The second is residential and commercial development; runoff from cleared lands carries pollutants into the streams.  

© U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

When I can, I also try to follow this issue in France.  (Someday maybe the political situation in Italy will get sorted out and I'll have time to catch up on environmental policies there, too.)  In France a report issued in 2010 indicated that, even if the sampling methodologies were different, the water quality problems are similar.  In this case Onema (l'Office national de l'eau et des milieux aquatiques) included lakes and marshes, as well as rivers and streams.  The agency reported that 45% of the surface water systems were in good or very good condition, whereas 55% were in average, mediocre, or bad condition.

Interestingly, France is subject to an E.U. water quality agreement and could potentially face sanctions if it doesn't meet agreed-upon standards within the next two years.

Nitrate pollution in the U.S., too

After yesterday's post, I thought I'd check on nitrate pollution in the U.S.  It turns out it's a major problem here, too.  Just yesterday, protesters were gathered outside an EPA hearing in Tampa, Florida, demanding action to deal with nitrates and phosphorous pollution.  According to the Tampa Bay Times, when the weather warms up, algae blooms in Florida waterways have become an annual problem, killing fish and closing swimming areas.  And back in November the New York Times had an article on nitrate contamination of water supplies in poorer, rural areas of the California Central Valley.

[I]n Tulare County, one of the country’s leading dairy producers, where animal waste lagoons penetrate the air and soil, most residents rely on groundwater as the source for drinking water. A study by the University of California, Davis, this year estimated that 254,000 people in the Tulare Basin and Salinas Valley, prime agricultural regions with about 2.6 million residents, were at risk for nitrate contamination of their drinking water. Nitrates have been linked to thyroid disease and make infants susceptible to “blue baby syndrome,” a potentially fatal condition that interferes with the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen.

Amazing!

I've only begun to learn about the issues involved here.  Still, I have a sense that the U.S. tends to approach the problem as one of water treatment.  I may be overstating it, but it generally seems that farmers can fertilize and operate feed lots as they wish.  Local water systems, if they exist and can afford it, will remove the pollutants.  By contrast, the E.U., with the 1991 nitrates directive, seems to be moving towards direct regulation of these pollution sources.