Recognizing Water Quality Progress

California dairy farmers are helping ensure clean drinking water in rural communities, while working to better protect groundwater resources.

California’s Central Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, but it has its share of environmental challenges. For more than 150 years, human and naturally occurring contaminants have been impacting groundwater. Protecting the quality of groundwater is essential to preserving a world-class agricultural economy and the rural communities that depend upon it. Fortunately, progress is being made.

Free replacement drinking water is now being provided to more than 2,000 rural Central Valley households with impacted wells.

On June 30, more than 300 people attended a CV-SALTS online summit to learn about latest achievements on ongoing efforts. The Central Valley Water Board initiated CV-SALTS in 2006, as a collaborative initiative among business, government, and community organizations to address nitrate and salt accumulation affecting water supplies. The Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability (CV-SALTS) mission includes: 1) taking immediate action to provide safe drinking water and, 2) working toward longer-term solutions to improve groundwater quality. One way this is done at a local level is through entities called Nitrate Management Zones.

Ensuring Safe Water Supplies

Over the past few years, local farms, businesses, and others have come together to create and execute systems for providing free well testing and drinking water where needed. Much effort has also been made to perform outreach and encourage rural residents who rely on private well water to apply. The program continues to expand, and is currently being offered in 15 groundwater basins, encompassing many of the Valley’s rural communities.

Since 2021, more than 3,200 wells in these basins have been tested. More than 4.3 million gallons of free replacement drinking water, through free bottle-filling stations and via direct delivery to more than 2,000 households with impacted wells.

“It’s been rewarding to see the milestones over the years,” said Stanislaus County dairy farmer Justin Gioletti, who has been involved in his community’s efforts from the beginning. “From the first well testing in 2021, first drinking water deliveries in 2022, to the continued expansion of the program into more rural communities—this work is making a difference.”

Gioletti serves as chair of the Valley Water Collaborative, a non-profit organization that manages activities in several Nitrate Management Zones. Immediate efforts have focused on drinking water, but management zones are also working to address root causes of water quality issues—efforts that are already returning benefits and will continue to strengthen in coming years.

“It’s our goal as dairy farmers to nourish people, and we care a lot about the communities we live in,” said Gioletti. “It’s encouraging to see that efforts are making a difference for people’s health and quality of life today, especially as the work ahead remains challenging.”

Tackling Nitrate Challenges

Nitrate is one of the most significant water quality issues in the Central Valley. Farming practices have caused nitrate contamination from the use of fertilizer to produce food and feed for animals. Urban wastewater treatment, manufacturing, and food processing operations have also contributed. For more than 15 years, California dairy farms have been monitoring their impacts and working to identify and implement better manure management practices. 

Dairy farms are piloting and adopting a variety of new technologies and strategies. This includes investment in manure digesters with lined lagoons, adoption of alternative management strategies that allow for drier handling and storage of manure, as well as application of manure effluent through sub-surface drip irrigation versus traditional flood irrigation methods. These efforts have been supported by incentive programs and are making a positive impact. However, more projects and additional tools will be needed.

In 2021, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) convened a Manure Recycling and Innovative Products (MRIP) Task Force—a collaboration of farmers, academia, and public partners. The task force created a report to guide innovation and advancement, aiming to help create value-added manure-based products to boost soil health, while reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers throughout the Central Valley, and reducing water impacts related to surplus manure nutrients.

Continued partnership is needed to ensure that efforts continue to foster innovation and sustainability. Dairy Cares Regulatory Director J.P. Cativiela participated in a panel discussion during the recent CV-SALTS online event. He noted that one key to success so far has been the flexibility of the state’s approach in allowing local farms and businesses to work with regulators in creating an effective system for a safer, healthier drinking water supply. Similar flexibility will be needed as farmers work to improve the way they manage nitrogen.

“We can get part of the way with existing tools and strategies by improving outreach, education, and accountability,” said Cativiela. “However, innovation to develop better tools and strategies, and to make those widely available, will also be critical.”

While much work remains ahead, California’s efforts to protect Central Valley groundwater are in full swing and providing essential benefits to local residents.

Dairy farmers will continue doing their part to innovate, helping to retain a world-class agricultural economy, while ensuring vibrant, healthy rural communities.

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