Stricter water regulation on ag land unecessary
The state’s new environmental regulations targeted at the
agriculture industry are not only unnecessary because they are
solutions without problems, but they also come at the
worst-possible time for San Benito County and other rural areas
particularly burdened by the recession.
Stricter water regulation on ag land unecessary
The state’s new environmental regulations targeted at the agriculture industry are not only unnecessary because they are solutions without problems, but they also come at the worst-possible time for San Benito County and other rural areas particularly burdened by the recession.
The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is considering implementation of stricter agricultural regulations that would require an expensive monitoring process for water runoff, while also mandating that properties with streams must create a 100-foot buffer between those tributaries and their farming operations.
It is another example of an apparently under-worked government bureaucracy looking for something to “fix” when nothing points to the necessity for reform. Where is the proof that shows San Benito County’s farmers and ranchers’ practices have caused harm to the environment or local waterways? Where is the crisis that called for such a drastic step in the wrong direction?
These mandates would add more costs for farmers and ranchers already struggling to get by, and they would only compound economic struggles as the agriculture industry continues to grapple with existing regulations, namely the federal government’s decreased water allocations over the past two years largely due to concerns over a minnow and salmon species. They also would result in responsible property owners being told what to do, once again, with their land.
County supervisors last week formally and appropriately spoke out on the issue by unanimously approving a letter to the water board condemning the proposed regulations. Specifically, they requested an extension on a five-year waiver that has allowed farmers and landowners to be a part of a coalition that does monitoring at points throughout a watershed, rather than on every farm through which water runs.
That system has worked, so why the change?
The rules would require that every landowner or farmer pay for and conduct monitoring along waterways near all farming operations. Aside from a direct cost to pay for such monitoring, property owners could get hit with a second, harmful provision proposed by the state, in having to provide the 100-foot buffer. There are many tributaries in the region, meaning the buffer-zone rules could take a number of acres out of production, adversely affecting the economy, and at the worst-possible time.
The regional water board, if it approves the rules, would be penalizing a group of residents and an industry in San Benito County that has proven, continually, to act responsibly and with sensitivity to impacts on the land.
