Excerpt
PESTICIDE use contributes to an adequate, high-quality supply of food for people in the United States and for export. Pesticide use—about 331,000 tons in 1988(II-also has the potential to contaminate water resources. Forty-six pesticides found in groundwater samples from 26 states were confirmed to have a non-point-source origin (13). Several pesticides also have been detected in the nation's streams and rivers (5, 7, 8, 10, 12).
The President's Initiative on Enhancing Water Quality (2) states that the nation must protect its groundwater resources from contarnination by fertilizers and pesticides without jeopardizing the economic vitality of U.S. agriculture. The initiative also states that farmers ultimately are responsible for changing their production practices to avoid contamination of groundwater or surface water. Much remains to be learned, however, about the magnitude and extent of agriculture's effect on water quality, as well as the economic and environmental consequences of alternative product ion systems. More knowledge is particularly needed on effects of new and …
Footnotes
C. A. Onstad is deputy area director, Midwest Area, Agricultural Research Service, US. Department of Agriculture, Morris, Minnesota 56262 M. R. Burkart is a hydrologist with the U. S. Geological Survey, Iowa City, Iowa 52244. G. D. Bubenzer is a professor in the Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Wiscansin, Madison, 53714.
- Copyright 1991 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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