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genuse in theEast SanJoaquinwatershed, Fisher saidthestatewaterboardspecifical- ly said that “the science is not there yet to have an enforceable limit.” The Central Coast order also includes a requirement that domesticwells be tested for 1,2,3-trichloropropanebecauseof pas- sivemigration into groundwater. Fisher said 1,2,3-TCP, a fumigant, has not been used in decades, but the order requires farmers to test for it andreportde- tections, and to find alternative sources of drinkingwaterwhen it’sdetected inawell. “This isabigdeal, becauseof the fact that afarmerorrancherisnotactuallyutilizingor applying1,2,3-TCP to their fields,” she said. The petition asks the state water board to review the order and its associated fi- nal environmental impact report. It asks the water board to include a “true and vi- able” third-party compliance alternative; remove nitrogen application limits and targets; remove nitrogen discharge lim- its and replace themwith realistic targets triggering appropriate follow-up; better definewhen farmswith impermeable sur- facesmust manage stormwater discharge duration, rateandvolume; andencourage but not require TCPmonitoring inwells. The farmgroupsdescribed the final EIR as flawed because it failed to analyze the order’s environmental or economic im- pacts; did not identify or analyze alterna- tives; did not support its conclusions with substantial evidence; andfailedtorespond
to public comments. In the meantime, Fisher said, Ag Order 4.0 remains in force, and farmers must act accordingly. NormGroot, executive director of the Monterey County FarmBureau, said that will be a tall order. “This is a very complex set of compli- ancerequirements that cannotbesumma- rized into a one-page primer for growers,” Groot said. “There will need to be exten- sive education on the requirements for applied and removed nitrogen, irrigation water use, andmonitoring and reporting requirements thatmust bemet annually.” Among other challenges, he said, most calculations for nitrogenusewill need the help of certified crop advisors or other ex- perts to help farmers determine annual compliance reporting. He said increas- ingly lower limitsonnitrogenapplications “will force hard choices on production of some crops, either asmultiple crops each year, ornitrogenapplication limits that just cannot produce amarketable crop.” RichardSmith, aUniversityofCalifornia Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Salinas, said farmershavea steep learning curve ahead. “There’s never been nitrogen limits be- fore,” he said. “There’s been nitrogen re- porting, but this is a newballgame now.” In a lengthy blog post, Smith and fel- low UCCE advisor Michael Cahn dis-
cussed three key steps farmers will need to take to comply with the order, be- ginning with measuring residual nitro- gen in the soil using a nitrate quick test. (The full post can be seen on the Salinas Valley Agriculture blog: ucanr.edu/blogs/ SalinasValleyAgriculture.) “If there is residual nitrogen, then you just either supplement it, or you can skip a fertilization, depending on the level,” Smith said. “Then there is accounting for the nitrate in the water and taking advan- tage of that. Then there is irrigationman- agement—trying to keep the nitrogen in the soil, in the root zone.” Nitrogen management “takes a lot of testing, and it takes a lot of recalibrating your knowledge base,” he added. “How to growthecropand reducenitrate leaching, that’s the new frontier.” Calculating just the amount of nitrogen acropneeds canbehard todo, Smithsaid, “because the fieldsarenotuniform,”which makes the rules “verydifficult to fullycom- plywith.” Ideally, he said, cover crops could be used at the end of the season to soak up residual nitrogen. Smithinvitedfarmersneedinghelporad- vice to contact his office; contact informa- tion is availableat cemonterey.ucanr.edu. (Kevin Hecteman i s an ass i stant editor of Ag Alert. He can be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)
creasing over time. The order creates newmonitoring and reporting requirements for nitrogen ap- plications and removals, and lays out sev- eral paths to compliance, including one using third-partyprograms tohelpfarmers achieve the order’s objectives. California Farm Bureau Counsel Kari Fisher signed the petition on behalf of the stateFarmBureauandcountyFarmBureaus inMonterey, SanBenito, San Luis Obispo, SanMateo, SantaBarbara, SantaClara and SantaCruzcounties,wheretheorderisinef- fect.OtherpetitionersincludetheCalifornia StrawberryCommission;WesternGrowers; theGrower-ShipperAssociationsofCentral CaliforniaandofSantaBarbaraandSanLuis Obispo counties; and the Western Plant HealthAssociation. “No other regional board has ever reg- ulated the application of fertilizer,” Fisher said, referring to theCentral Coast board’s enforceable limits on the amount of nitro- gen fertilizer farmers can apply to crops. The farm groups’ petition says the regional water board veered out of its lane in seeking to regulate nitrogen ap- plications. Fisher said the regulation of fertilizers and pesticides falls under the jurisdictionof theCaliforniaDepartment of Food andAgriculture andDepartment of Pesticide Regulation. In considering a similar order for nitro-
12 Ag Alert May 26, 2021
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