Should livestock agriculture and, for that matter, all farms, now expect to have their groundwater monitored by the local community?  This may be the new trend if what has developed in Wisconsin catches on.  The Saratoga, Wisconsin Town Board recently approved a budget of $60,000 to $70,000 to establish a series of monitoring wells in advance of a proposed Dairy Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO).

Protecting the local groundwater supply is extremely important.  In fact, we are involved in a very large project to do just that in Salina, Kansas.  Groundwater, once contaminated, is very difficult, expensive, and time consuming to clean up.

Monitoring the Groundwater

In the case of the Saratoga farm, according to the article, they are installing a network of 10 monitoring wells to, first, establish the baseline groundwater conditions.  Then, when the farm is operational, they will monitor the water quality.

On the face of it, this groundwater monitoring program is a proactive approach that will help protect the local groundwater supply. However, if this was my farm and someone else was monitoring it, I would have several concerns.  Let me explain.

Potential groundwater monitoring errors

First, it’s important to make sure the monitoring wells are properly installed. If these monitoring wells are not installed properly, the community and the farm will be “chasing their tail.”  But installing monitoring wells is very basic, right?  Yes.  However, I cannot tell you how many times we have reviewed groundwater data, and everyone involved was certain there was a pending environmental disaster when, in reality, it was just bad data based on poorly designed and installed monitoring wells.

In one case, a company was ready to allocate $9 million dollars to clean up a groundwater contamination problem.  Fortunately, following our peer review, we were able to untangle the data before they spent this money – the groundwater disaster did not exist.

At the other end of the monitoring well miscalculation is the project we are currently working on in Salina, Kansas.  In this case, assurances that the contamination was not an immediate concern were grossly under estimated.  In this case, our peer review uncovered the errors, and we are now involved in helping the community “get their arms around the problem” and their drinking-water supply.

As an aside, Dragun’s senior hydrogeologist, Dr. Michael Sklash, created a short handout we have used at seminars, Ten “Simple” and Potentially Costly Groundwater Errors, which covers many of these concerns.  If you are interested in this, please send me an email and I will forward a copy to you.

Second, security of these wells will be very critical.  I remember one dairy developer we worked with in the past who had one of their newly-drilled wells intentionally contaminated with manure.  As I recall, the farm was just being developed, and someone came in after hours and actually “stuffed” manure in the well.  It’s unfortunate, but there is an “element” that believes that the end justifies the means – and, if they are opposed to large agriculture, this type of action might be justified in their view of the world.

Third, where is all this going?  While this current focus is on livestock agriculture, future focus might be on crop farmers who land apply manure or those who use petroleum-based fertilizers.  The same rationale would apply by having, in essence, sentinel wells in place to alert the community of pending contamination.

Increasingly, environmental regulators are focused on livestock agriculture. Great caution should be exercised before agreeing to any monitoring programs

What should agriculture do now?

So, what is my conclusion to this recent development in Wisconsin?  I believe the community is doing what they believe is in their best interest.  As I stated earlier, protection of groundwater is a lot cheaper than cleaning it up.  But if you are the one being monitored, you better have some representation “at the table”; by that, I mean you should know who is doing what and if it is being done correctly.

If you have questions or concerns about groundwater issues, or if you would like a copy of Ten “Simple” and Potentially Costly Groundwater Errors, contact me at ahahn@dragun.com or 248-932-0228, ext. 134.