The British Columbia Approach When it comes to environmental issues, including agricultural runoff, British Columbia has specific studies, regulations and strategies to deal with the issues, identify the problems and find solutions. Agriculture is a major industry in British Columbia, however protection of the environment seems to be a very important issue in this province as well. Finding information on agricultural runoff from a British Columbia point of view was quite easy. There are many studies and programs underway to measure the impacts, evaluate new approaches and educate the public with respect to this issue. The British Columbia government has decided to tackle the problem of non-point source pollution (which includes agricultural runoff) and find solutions. When you look at the eco/eco relationship, the BC view is that Agriculture is important, but not at the expense of the environment. The BC position is that Agriculture will in fact be able to save money if they take steps to reduce agricultural runoff. BC is looking into the future where they seem to see grave economic consequences if pollution from non-point source runoff is ignored "Given the dramatic population growth predicted for BC, we must act now in a determined way to deal with this pollution, otherwise we can anticipate a continuing, gradual decline in the quality of our waters. This decline will lead to significant future economic impacts and reduced benefits from our water resources." (British Columbia. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, 1999). BC has produced an entire document to address and suggest ways to dela with the problem of non-point source pollution. Below is a copy of the section that deals specificaly with Agricultural runoff: Agriculture Agricultural operations, if not properly managed, discharge a wide range of contaminants, including those from manure, fertilizers, pesticides, and eroded soil particles. The most worrisome contaminants are ammonia, nutrients, pathogens, and sediments. Ammonia is toxic to fish, while nutrients can impair water quality, as in the Serpentine and Nikomekl rivers, the Okanagan Lakes, and the Abbotsford aquifer. Manure is a significant source of nitrogen, phosphorus, biochemical oxygen demand, and disease-causing organisms, including those responsible for waterborne diseases. Proper management is required to avoid adverse effects to water supplies and human health. Environmentally-sound use of manure from farms is a constant challenge in the agricultural industry, and is not unique to British Columbia. In some parts of the Fraser Valley, nutrients from manure, combined with inorganic fertilizer use, exceed the capacity of local lands to assimilate the available nutrients. In some areas, the excess is between 300 and 400 kilograms of nitrogen per cropped hectare. When too much manure and chemical fertilizer are spread onto fields for crop enhancement, excess nitrogen leaches into groundwater or enters adjacent streams. Timing of manure spreading and other management practices can affect the severity of the impact. If spread in the late fall and early winter, when the plants' nutritional needs are the lowest, winter precipitation can carry ammonia, pathogens, and oxygen-demanding materials into waterbodies. Pesticides can contaminate waterbodies by several routes, including spillage, improper storage, application too near or into ditches and streams, leaching from soils, or washed away in runoff. About $22 million per year is spent on application of 120 different types of pesticides in British Columbia. The area of provincial agricultural cropland treated with pesticides increased from about 425,000 hectares in 1971 to about 550,000 hectares in 1986-about a 30% increase. On Crown land, the use of pesticides has stabilized or decreased in the last few years, suggesting that the promotion of integrated pest management in British Columbia since the 1980's may be paying off. Integrated pest management is an ecological approach to pest management where all available control technologies are consolidated into a unified program aimed at preventing economic damage and adverse effects to human health and the environment. Limited water sampling efforts in the past provide little information about the degree of pesticide contamination of water in the province. However, an assessment of the Lower Mainland's Abbotsford-Sumas aquifer, which provides drinking water to nearly 100,000 people, found only traces of 16 pesticides in the aquifer. Some of the pesticides detected are either no longer used or their use is restricted. The levels of pesticide were well below current drinking water guidelines and do not pose an imminent threat to human health. A comprehensive inter-ministry groundwater quality assessment (Fraser Valley Groundwater Monitoring Project) conducted in 1993/94 indicated groundwater quality in the Fraser Valley was generally good, except for elevated concentrations of nitrate-nitrogen in the Abbotsford, Hopington, and Brookswood aquifers. Above section taken from the document: Tackling non-point source water pollution in British Columbia. AN ACTION PLAN, March 1999 by British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks.