Subject: ODA Director's Column in Summer 2012 Ag Quarterly
Below is ODA Director Katy Coba's column from the Summer 2012 issue of the ODA Ag Quarterly newsletter. If
you'd like to reprint this column in your publication, please indicate that the column is from the Ag Quarterly
newsletter and is being re-printed with permission from ODA.
*************************************************************************************
I am delivering a call to action for Oregon farmers, ranchers, and other landowners– please pay attention to water
quality issues. It’s an important topic that is receiving a lot of attention right now and we want you to be part of
the conversation.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture is directed by statute to administer its Agricultural Water Quality Program
to work with farmers and ranchers on improving ag’s contribution to water quality. We work closely with other
state agencies that are in the water quality business– most notably, the Department of Environmental Quality.
Our program has been and will continue to be successful in addressing and, frankly, reducing agriculture’s
negative impacts on water quality. It has been in place for 19 years, fully implemented for the past few years with
the adoption of rules for the 38 basins around the state, which determine how agriculture is going to deal with
water quality problems.
ODA’s Agricultural Water Quality Program has mobilized a great deal of effort. A lot of people in agriculture and
many agencies have put in a lot of work already throughout the state, and they should be commended for their
commitment. The challenge we’ve had to this point is not being in a position to really address or quantify the
effectiveness of the program. We’ve been focused on getting the rules in place and working with landowners
interested in putting projects on the ground. Those projects have involved soil and water conservation districts, watershed councils, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, and others. Sometimes landowners have completed projects on their own. But there has not been a coordinated, cohesive collection of data or analysis to show progress and how water quality has improved.
Going forward, what should ODA’s Agricultural Water Quality Program look like? Right now, our program is
predominantly a complaint-based program. Should it move to some other kind of regulatory-based program?
There is some interest in putting resources into a demonstration projects that focus on a specific stream stretch
within a basin. In that scenario, an entire reach of a stream would get priority treatment with focused work on the
landscape, riparian area, and other elements critical to maintaining or improving water quality. Monitoring
conditions would take place before and after the work has been done to determine how water quality is
impacted. As we heard during our recent tour and listening sessions around the state regarding our water quality
program, there are a lot of ideas out there and probably many more yet to be considered.
So now is the time for all of us to step up and figure out how we can better show the effectiveness of ODA’s
program. There are critics out there and it is incumbent upon those of us in agriculture to show results. Just as they have over the past 19 years, I know farmers, ranchers, and landowners can step up and document the effectiveness of our Agricultural Water Quality Program.
This is a call to action, a call for help, a call for great ideas. The State Board of Agriculture, in its latest meeting, reinforced its interest and commitment to the program and how to move it forward. We want all of our partners around the state to work with us to do just that. The board has asked ODA to spend some time putting together options for the future. We will be developing those options this summer and will report back to the board in September. We want your input and involvement. You can contact my office directly or our Water Quality
Program staff. You can contact a Board of Agriculture member. Or if you are more comfortable working with your local SWCD, watershed council, or producer organization, those are also great avenues to provide input on how the program should move forward. The issue of water quality isn’t going away, nor should it. There is a seat at the discussion table reserved for Oregon agriculture. I’m banking on that seat being occupied by Oregon agriculture.
Subscribe to ODA's AgWaterQuality listserv: send a message to AgWaterQuality-subscribe@oda.state.or.us.
You'll receive a message asking you to reply to confirm your
subscription.
Beth Pietrzak
Regional Water Quality Specialist
Oregon Department of Agriculture
569 Hanley Road
Central Point, OR 97502
(541) 414-8797 (cell)
(541) 245-7463 (office)
(541) 772-5110 (fax)
epietrzak@oda.state.or.us
Subscribe to ODA's AgWaterQuality listserv: send a message to AgWaterQuality-subscribe@oda.state.or.us.
You'll receive a message asking you to reply to confirm your subscription.
Below is ODA Director Katy Coba's column from the Summer 2012 issue of the ODA Ag Quarterly newsletter. If
you'd like to reprint this column in your publication, please indicate that the column is from the Ag Quarterly
newsletter and is being re-printed with permission from ODA.
*************************************************************************************
I am delivering a call to action for Oregon farmers, ranchers, and other landowners– please pay attention to water
quality issues. It’s an important topic that is receiving a lot of attention right now and we want you to be part of
the conversation.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture is directed by statute to administer its Agricultural Water Quality Program
to work with farmers and ranchers on improving ag’s contribution to water quality. We work closely with other
state agencies that are in the water quality business– most notably, the Department of Environmental Quality.
Our program has been and will continue to be successful in addressing and, frankly, reducing agriculture’s
negative impacts on water quality. It has been in place for 19 years, fully implemented for the past few years with
the adoption of rules for the 38 basins around the state, which determine how agriculture is going to deal with
water quality problems.
ODA’s Agricultural Water Quality Program has mobilized a great deal of effort. A lot of people in agriculture and
many agencies have put in a lot of work already throughout the state, and they should be commended for their
commitment. The challenge we’ve had to this point is not being in a position to really address or quantify the
effectiveness of the program. We’ve been focused on getting the rules in place and working with landowners
interested in putting projects on the ground. Those projects have involved soil and water conservation districts, watershed councils, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, and others. Sometimes landowners have completed projects on their own. But there has not been a coordinated, cohesive collection of data or analysis to show progress and how water quality has improved.
Going forward, what should ODA’s Agricultural Water Quality Program look like? Right now, our program is
predominantly a complaint-based program. Should it move to some other kind of regulatory-based program?
There is some interest in putting resources into a demonstration projects that focus on a specific stream stretch
within a basin. In that scenario, an entire reach of a stream would get priority treatment with focused work on the
landscape, riparian area, and other elements critical to maintaining or improving water quality. Monitoring
conditions would take place before and after the work has been done to determine how water quality is
impacted. As we heard during our recent tour and listening sessions around the state regarding our water quality
program, there are a lot of ideas out there and probably many more yet to be considered.
So now is the time for all of us to step up and figure out how we can better show the effectiveness of ODA’s
program. There are critics out there and it is incumbent upon those of us in agriculture to show results. Just as they have over the past 19 years, I know farmers, ranchers, and landowners can step up and document the effectiveness of our Agricultural Water Quality Program.
This is a call to action, a call for help, a call for great ideas. The State Board of Agriculture, in its latest meeting, reinforced its interest and commitment to the program and how to move it forward. We want all of our partners around the state to work with us to do just that. The board has asked ODA to spend some time putting together options for the future. We will be developing those options this summer and will report back to the board in September. We want your input and involvement. You can contact my office directly or our Water Quality
Program staff. You can contact a Board of Agriculture member. Or if you are more comfortable working with your local SWCD, watershed council, or producer organization, those are also great avenues to provide input on how the program should move forward. The issue of water quality isn’t going away, nor should it. There is a seat at the discussion table reserved for Oregon agriculture. I’m banking on that seat being occupied by Oregon agriculture.
Subscribe to ODA's AgWaterQuality listserv: send a message to AgWaterQuality-subscribe@oda.state.or.us.
You'll receive a message asking you to reply to confirm your
subscription.
Beth Pietrzak
Regional Water Quality Specialist
Oregon Department of Agriculture
569 Hanley Road
Central Point, OR 97502
(541) 414-8797 (cell)
(541) 245-7463 (office)
(541) 772-5110 (fax)
epietrzak@oda.state.or.us
Subscribe to ODA's AgWaterQuality listserv: send a message to AgWaterQuality-subscribe@oda.state.or.us.
You'll receive a message asking you to reply to confirm your subscription.
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