I've given countless presentations about the importance of urban stormwater and construction stormwater runoff protection. I would have to try very hard to think of the number of times nobody raised the question, "what is the agriculture community doing to prevent non-point source pollution." It is almost automatic. I can see the twinkle in their eye when they raise their hand to ask the question. It is a valid question, but it is also a little bit of a cop-out. One one hand, it does water-down the message that controlling erosion at developments on the city edge is important when the farm field across the road doesn't appear to be doing their fair share. I hear that argument. I do. That farmer is certainly not held to the same NPDES permit requirement as the commercial land developer is. On the other hand though, we can only control what we control and defer to others to control what they can control.
So to everyone that has ever asked, "what about all that sediment and pollutants leaving the farmer's field up the road", I share a link to a video that starts to answer that question. The Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative or MRBI produced This Video to highlight how the USDA-NRCS is working with producers to implement the most cost-effective pollution prevention practices through research. The effort is strikingly comparable to the International Stormwater BMP Database being populated with independent scientific research about he pollution removal effectiveness of urban stormwater BMPs.
At the 2011, State-wide Stormwater Round Table, we heard that professionals need to stop diluting the message to the public by distinguishing between agricultural and urban non-stormwater pollution and just call it stormwater pollution. What do you think? Do the research and practice cost-share measures taken by USDA-NRCS help reduce the concern that the agricultural community is not doing their fair share? Feel free to leave your comments and observations about the topic here.
About Our Association
- Nebraska Floodplain and Stormwater Managers Association
- The Nebraska Floodplain and Stormwater Managers Association (NeFSMA) is an active organization of over 100 members representing over 50 organizations. NeFSMA pursues multiple purposes including: 1.)promote public awareness of floodplain and stormwater management; 2.) promote the professional status of floodplain and stormwater management and secure all benefits resulting there from; 3.) promote cooperation and information exchange between individuals and entities concerned with floodplain and stormwater management; 4.) keep individuals concerned with floodplain and stormwater management well informed through educational and professional seminars and to provide a method for dissemination of information, both general and technical; 5.) inform and educate concerned individuals of pending floodplain or stormwater legislation, funding and other related management matters. Please browse our website to learn more about NeFSMA at www.nefsma.net. If you are interested in joining, either contact one of the board members or complete the membership form.
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