
Good News on Mississippi GroundwaterBy Jim De
Quattro June 21, 1999WASHINGTON, June 21--Is farm
runoff damaging groundwater in Mississippi? No, at least not in a special
U.S. Department of Agriculture project area
in the Mississippi Delta, according to a comprehensive sampling project by
scientists at USDA's Agricultural Research
Service. The scientists who made the measurements arent stopping
there," said ARS administrator Floyd P. Horn. "They plan to help
growers in the Delta region improve water quality for wildlife surrounding
their farms." The researchers' good news on water quality comes from one of the
cooperative Management Systems
Evaluation Areas, or MSEAs, that USDA has set up in seven states. "In
these projects, ARS scientists and other federal and state agencies work in
partnership with farmers to identify and control agricultural pollution,"
Horn said. "The farmers agree to try environmentally friendly land
management strategies so scientists can evaluate their effectiveness." Many of these strategies protected groundwater. Data from the 7,320-acre
MSEA in Sunflower and LeFlore Counties in the Mississippi Delta show
contamination by farm chemicals is not a problem. The ARS scientists drilled
about 100 wells--at depths of five, 10 and 15 feet--in watersheds around three
lakes. They checked for 18 different farm chemicals. In three years, only five
of 600 well samples showed pesticide residue. Even then, levels were within
limits for drinking water. "The growers are gratified to learn local groundwater is fine and are
interested in learning about how to use these 'best management practices' to
protect lakes near their land, said Horn. The Mississippi
Delta MSEA focuses on farmland erosion control and preventing sediment and
chemical runoff into three oxbow lakes--Beasley, Thighman and Deep Hollow. Near 40-acre Thighman Lake, Floyd R. Anderson, Jr., grows 4,300 acres of
soybeans, corn, rice and cotton. Tillage operations could contribute to soil
erosion. But "why," Anderson asked, "would I make 10 or 12
tilling trips across a field and erode my soil--and pay $6 an acre each time to
do it--when three or four trips will do?" Technology being tested in the Delta MSEA not only enhances the health of
the lakes, thus increasing fish and duck numbers, but may also help growers
reduce costs. Many farmers plant soil-protecting cover crops, but they have to
replant them each year. ARS agronomist Seth Dabney is helping Anderson test an
alternative. "Balansa clover adds about 75 pounds of crop-feeding nitrogen per acre
to the soil every year it's used. It produces lots of seeds, so farmers don't
have to replant annually," said Dabney, at ARS'
National
Sedimentation Laboratory, Oxford, Miss. Other ARS scientists working in the Mississippi Delta MSEA are based at the
agency's Jamie
Whitten Delta State Research Center in Stoneville, Miss. Besides monitoring groundwater, researchers are tracking effects of
experimental farm practices and crop rotations on weeds, beneficial microbes in
the soil and water, soil organic matter and soil nutrients. A story about the Delta MSEA project is in the June issue of ARS' Agricultural
Research magazine. The story is also on the World Wide Web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jun99/msea0699.htm Scientific contact: Seth
Dabney, ARS National Sedimentation Laboratory, 598 McElroy Dr., Oxford, MS,
38655, phone (601) 232-2975, fax (601) 232-2915,
[email protected]. Story contacts Seth M Dabney U.S. Department of Agriculture | |