How can your soil health be related to your health?

1. How can your soil health be related to your health? The story of a groundwater improvement project in Oregon’s Willamette Valley Audrey Eldridge, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, GWMA Mama

2. What is a GWMA? A Groundwater Management Area is a tool used by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to address a large scale groundwater contamination when the contaminants originate from non-point sources.

3. GWMA Process (in general) • (1) Document contamination • (2) Declare a Groundwater Management Area (GWMA) • (3) Appoint an Advisory Committee • (4) Form an Action Plan • (5) Implement the Action Plan • (6) Rescind the GWMA declaration

4. Nitrate refers to nitrate-N mg/L ~ppm

5. Nitrate Standards • The public drinking water standard is 10 mg/L • “Action Level” for Oregon GWMA declaration is 7 mg/L

6. Nitrate Health Concerns • Blue baby syndrome • Some research has indicated an association with increased incidence of cancer in adults, incidence of brain tumors, leukemia • Spontaneous miscarriages

8. In the SWV GWMA, the Land Use is Predominately Agriculture

9. The GWMA boundaries were also designed to • Be recognizable to the general public, so they would know if they are “in” • Capture most of the high nitrate values seen in the earlier studies

10. SWV Groundwater Resource • Shallow (20-40 ft.) • Unconfined • In some areas, the shallow groundwater overlies a larger and deeper regional aquifer

11. Nearly all of the GWMA Residents Rely on Groundwater

12. Where Are We Now? • GWMA declared in 2004, and a committee was appointed • An Action Plan was finalized Dec 2006 and is being updated now! • Outreach and implementation continues

13. FourSources of Nitrate Analyzed by the Nitrogen Budget 1,704 annual tons 74 annual tons 109 annual tons

14. Sources of Nitrate • Over the whole SWV-GWMA, fertilizer nitrogen is the most likely source for the majority of nitrate in groundwater. • Septic Systems cannot produce enough nitrate to reach the concentrations observed (account for less then 2% of the total yearly addition of nitrogen to the valley). • CAFOs do not cover a large enough area of the GWMA. • Both CAFOs and Septic systems are potential hot spots of localized high nitrate.

15. Agricultural in the SWV • ~197 square miles (93 % of the area) Includes grains, hay and forage, seed crops, row crops, vegetables, fruits, and various specialty seed crops. Known as the “grass seed capitol of the world.” • Eight permitted Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) • Small acreage agricultural landowners.

16. Uptake ratios take into account conditions and management practices

17. Nitrogen Potentially Lost Per Acre Depending on Utilization (conditions and management practices)

18. PRECIPITATION AT THE EUGENE AIRPORT IN INCHES PER YEAR

19. During precipitation, water infiltrates into the soil profile Thanks to Dr. Maria Dragila

20. After precipitation stops, water redistributes itself into Evaporation and Downward Gravitational Drainage

21. Monitoring Groundwater Quality

23. Long Term Measuring Overall Water Quality • DW = 14 domestic wells, generally deeper, used on a regular basis. • GW = 25 groundwater monitoring wells, generally shallower, purged only when sampled

24. Long Term Measuring Overall Groundwater Quality • What is being measured • pH • Specific Conductance • Temperature • Dissolved Oxygen • Nitrate • Sulfate (every other event)

25. Long Term Measuring Overall Groundwater Quality Sampling occurs every 3 months (quarterly) pH, Specific Conductance, Temperature Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrate, Sulfate 28 Quarterly events completed, next one is due mid May 2013

26. Monitoring Wells & Depth to Water Monitoring well __LandSurface__________ _____________________________ Depth to Water = 5 feet Depth to bottom – usually 23 feet Depth to Water 15 feet ---------------------------

34. Groundwater or Surface Water? • Over the years, there seems to be some water results from select wells that indicate we are seeing more surface-water influence than groundwater influence. • Wells GW-17 and sometimes GW-5 are good examples of this phenomena

38. GW-5 Groundwater or Surface Water? • All high nitrate-N values in Feb or May • All nitrate-N values <1.5 mg/L in Aug or Nov • Lowest conductivity in Aug and Nov • Watertable lowest in Aug and Nov If this well is river water influenced – one might think the nitrate would be lowest when the river stage is the highest (Feb) & the DTW is the lowest (Feb and May)

43. Linking soil health to water quality – and thus to your health (and that of your family’s)

44. Soil Health => Understanding soil processes Physical Chemical Biological • Physical support for plants • Aeration • Soil water storage and movement • Resistance to soil erosion • Physical root proliferation and organism movement • Nutrient storage and release • Soil reactions • Energy (C) storage • Pest suppression • N mineralization • OM decomposition • Support of microbial community

45. Healthy soils maintain a diverse and active community of soil organisms that: • Suppress plant disease, & insect and weed pests • Form beneficial symbiotic associations with plant roots • Recycle essential plant nutrients • Improve soil structure for better water and nutrient retention Ultimately, healthy soils increase grower profits and protect the environment Healthy soils have many beneficial organisms but few plant pests.

46. Conclusions • Groundwater quality in the valley can improve if protective management strategies – including increasing soil quality - are implemented when using nitrogen fertilizers. • Management strategies are also needed for the potential “hot spots” • Healthy soil can reduce the amount of fertilizer needed – which can also reduce the amount of N lost to groundwater.

47. Lysimeter Project Starting this summer Measuring SQ at selected companion fields (traditional and innovative) Collecting soil water samples monthly for 2 years Working to build a NTT model for future credits

49. FOCUS GROUPS • Two schools in Benton County – high nitrate in their drinking water • Rural Resident Focus Group this month • Agriculture Community Focus Group later this year

50. http://gwma.oregonstate.edu/