Environmental groups want clean water regulations in the farm bill. A coalition of environmental groups penned a letter to the farm bill conference committee with suggestions the coalition claims will “help address the challenges facing the nation’s drinking water supplies.”
In a news release on the topic, the Environmental Working Group claims that America’s drinking water is under threat from polluted farm runoff, noting that about 1,700 public water systems across the country are contaminated with levels of nitrate that exceed what the National Cancer Institute says increases the risk of cancers.
Much of the provisions in the letter pertain to the Department of Agriculture’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program. The letter seeks several reforms under the conservation title of the farm bill, including a proposal that reserves 40 percent of the acres enrolled through the continuous CRP sign-up for practices that will protect water quality in watersheds where lakes, rivers and streams are impacted by sediment and nutrients or by harmful algae blooms.
Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.