An Overview of Air, Water

1
An Overview of Air, Water Soil in Agriculture

• Barbara McCarthy, Ph.D.
• Environmental Health Department
• Colorado State University

2
Agriculture Environmental Health

• Agriculture is not part of classical
  Environmental Health (EH)
• EH as an aspect of public health
• air, water, food, shelter important as related
  to
• communicable disease transmission
• toxic chemical exposure
• physical agent interaction

3
Agriculture EH

• Agricultures importance relegated to
• diseases associated with agricultural chemicals
• production of an ample and proper diet

4
EH Definition

• Protection against environmental factors that may
  adversely impact human health or the ecological
  balances essential to long-term human health and
  environmental quality.
• (NEHA, 1996)

5
Ecological Balances

• Odums proposed Life-Support System
• Life-Support environment
• Organisms
• Processes
• Resources
• Providing human physiological necessities

6
Ecological Balances

• Life-Support Environment
• Cultivated landscapes
• Domesticated landscapes
• Natural landscapes
• Provide food, mineral nutrients, air, water

7
Ecological Balances

• Urban Industrial landscapes are NOT included in
  life-support environment.
• energy demanding
• pollution generating

8
Ecological Balances

• The larger the urbanized area, the greater is the
  need for natural and domesticated landscapes.
• supporting host role

9
Domesticated Landscapes

• Include agricultural lands
• Dominated by cultured plants and domestic animals
• Produce food and fiber

10
Domesticated Landscapes

• Crucial in helping to provide
• healthy soil
• clean water
• diverse habitats
• that promote the necessary ecological balances

11
US Land Use

• About 50 of US land is privately owned and
  classified as -cropland
• -pastureland
• -rangeland

USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2001
12
US Land Use -- Cropland
USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service,
2001 Each green dot represents 25,000 acres
13
US Land Use -- Grazing Land
USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service,
2001 Each dot represents 25,000 acres
14
US Land Use -- Farmland Loss

• On the average approximately 645,000 acres of
  prime farmland is estimated as lost to
  development per year from 1992 - 1997

15
Water Demand Precipitation
Greater than 150 100 to 150 75 to 100
Less than 75
Legend Percentage of Local Average Annual
Precipitation USDA, Natural Resources
Conservation Services, 2001
16
Excessive Cropland Erosion
Legend Each red dot represents 5000 acres of
highly erodible land and each yellow dot
represents 5000 acres of non-highly erodible land
with excess erosion above the tolerable soil
erosion rate. USDA-Natural Resources Conservation
Service, 2001
17
Water Quality -- WQ Inventory

• National Water Quality Inventory
• completed every TWO years
• required by the Clean Water Act
• evaluates a subset of US
• rivers streams (23)
• lake, reservoir, pond acres (42)
• Great Lakes shoreline miles (90)

18
Water Quality -- WQ Inventory

• Agricultural use fully supported by
• 97 of river stream miles
• 89 of lake, reservoir, pond acres
• 100 of Great Lakes shoreline miles
• All uses supported by
• 65 of river stream miles
• 55 of lake, reservoir, pond acres
• 4 of Great Lakes shoreline miles

19
Water Quality -- WQ Inventory

• Ag activities were reported as the most
  widespread pollution source
• silt
• nutrients

20
Water Quality -- NAWQA
USGS program using consistent, standardized
methods to assess water quality.
21
Water Quality -- NAWQA

• Water quality information used in understanding
  impacts of human activity and natural factors.
• Synthesis with climate, soils, geographic,
  geologic, hydrologic information.
• Nutrients and pesticides evaluated.

22
Water Quality -- Pesticides

• Analysis
• 1992 - 1996
• 76 pesticides
• 8200 samples
• Most extensive data to date

• Results
• 58 pesticides detected
• gt95 surface water positive
• lt50 ground water positive
• gt50 ag and urban streams exceeded guideline

23
Water Quality -- Nutrients

• Nitrogen
• elevated levels in ag and urban areas
• highest concentrations in agricultural areas
• 15 groundwater samples gt EPA nitrate standard

• Phosphorus
• elevated levels in ag and urban areas
• highest concentrations in urban areas
• tends to attach to soil and not contaminate
  groundwater

24
Water Quality -- NAWQA

• Results of the USGS program support the stated
  general agricultural impacts as reported in the
  Water Quality Inventory.

25
Ecological Balances

• Domesticated landscapes are crucial in helping
  to provide
• healthy soil
• clean water
• diverse habitats
• that promote the necessary ecological balances.

26
Ecological Balances

• As exemplified by the familiar problems of water
  quality degradation due to
• erosion
• pesticide runoff
• nutrient inputs
• agricultural lands are an additional burden on
  remaining landscapes.

27
Ecological Balances

• Key to change lies in viewing agricultural lands
  as parts of larger regional systems that provide
  life-support.

28
Ecological Balances

• Challenge
• to capture the NRCS vision
• to translate into local action
• farmers and ranchers produce much more than food
  and fiber. Through their care and stewardship of
  the land, farmers and ranchers produce safe
  drinking water, clear-flowing streams, lakes full
  of fish, skies full of ducks and geese, and
  scenic landscapes.

29
Life-Support Vision

• Life-support vision for agriculture is
  fundamental to providing the ecological balances
  essential to long-term human health.
• EH professionals are clearly called to an
  expanded involvement in agriculture issues.

30
EH Professionals Role

• US does not have an EH system but a web of
  organizations.
• Trend toward decreasing environmental
  responsibilities of state health agencies.
• Environmental protection to state regulatory
  agencies

31
EH Professionals Role

• Regulatory focus does not encourage an improved
  understanding of the important, life-supporting
  relationship between the environment and human
  health.
• Funding is focused on regulatory activities not
  EH activities.

32
EH Professionals Role

• EH programs include
• epidemiology
• risk assessment
• environmental sanitation
• EH activities include
• education
• surveillance

33
EH and Agriculture

• EH Agriculture Connection
• fundamental
• Provision and maintenance of a life-supporting
  environment.