Excerpt
ARIZONA has promulgated significant legislation to deal with agricultural sources of pollution. Motivation for this legislation arose from public concern over water quality problems in agricultural areas. Recent research in the Phoenix metropolitan area shows nitrate concentrations exceeded the maximum limit of 45 parts per million for drinking water in 70 percent of samples taken, with a high of 24,000 parts per million nitrate at one site (2). In addition, significant contamination by the pesticides ethylene dibromide and dibromochloropropane has been documented in Arizona in association with intensive agriculture (1).
The Environmental Quality Act of 1986 established two unique programs that focus on the influence of agriculture on water quality in Arizona. The first, the Regulated Agricultural Activities Program, was established to regulate pollution from the use of nitrogen fertilizers and from concentrated animal feeding operations. The second, the Pesticide Contamination Prevention …
Footnotes
Brian E. Munson is program manager, Pesticide Contamination Prevention Program, and Carol Russell is program manager, Nonpoint-Source Water Quality Management Program, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Phoenix, 85034.
- Copyright 1990 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.