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Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessments and Nutrient management plans --WEST

With more than a million livestock farms in the United States, figuring out what to do with the animal manure has always been a challenge for operators. The nutrient management project will help operators with plans to reduce manure runoff impacts in sensitive watersheds. Comprehensive environmental assessments are also part of the project. Technical assistance for the project is confidential and free and livestock operators across the nation are eligible to apply.

The Environmental Resources Coalition (ERC) will use federal grant dollars, from the Environmental Protection Agency, to help livestock operators west of the Mississippi River prepare nutrient management plans and environmental assessments. ERC is a non-profit group dedicated to water quality protection and improvement efforts. RTI International, a research institute in North Carolina, will use its portion of the EPA grant to work with farmers in the eastern half of the nation.

“It’s important for producers to understand how their operation can impact water quality,” said Mark White, the project’s technical director. “This project will help them develop a nutrient management plan that addresses their needs and also helps protect the environment. That’s a win for producers and a win for water quality.”

The Environmental Resources Coalition will focus its efforts in watersheds on the 303d list of impaired waters or those that already have approved Total Maximum Daily Load plans in place. EPA requires that each state identify waters that are not meeting water quality standards or are not supporting their beneficial uses. This list helps state and federal agencies keep track of waters that are impaired as well as the pollutants that are affecting them. A Total Maximum Daily Load calculates the maximum amount of a given pollutant that a water body can absorb before its quality is affected.

For more information about the environmental assessment and nutrient management project please contact, Project Manager, Betty Wyse or Project Technical Director, Mark White at 573-634-7078.

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