Aghculoire 



All of the agencies involved in efforts to minimize the adverse effects of agricultural 

 waste and erosion on water quality would like to encourage expanded installation of 

 effective conservation practices. The major conservation practices advocated in a 1984 

 SCS proposal to focus on the Narragansett Bay Basin as a specific Target Area included: 

 animal waste management systems, filter strips, critical area plantings, conservation tillage, 

 cover crop, contour stripcropping, pasture management, terraces, diversions, grassed 

 waterways, and water and sediment control basins. 



GENERAL FINDINGS 



Although vigorous efforts have been made to encourage installation of agricultural best 

 management practices, progress has been slow. A number of important economic and 

 sociological factors contribute to implementation difficulties. 



In important areas of the Basin, ASCS/SCS targeting strategies are not 

 having optimum effect because many farm operators in critical areas or in 

 areas having signiflcant impact have not chosen to participate in the strictly 

 voluntary program. 



Conservation District staffing levels are not adequate to ensure regular 

 post-installation inspection and verification of practices put in place on 

 farmlands. No enforcement authority is available to SCS to ensure 

 consistent maintenance of practices. 



No consistent monitoring strategy has been developed to ascertain the water quality 

 impacts of practices and die long-term effects of the practices on farm costs and 

 productivity. As a result, the effectiveness of the practices cannot easily be demonstrated to 

 farm operators, in economic terms or in terms of on-the-ground or in-the-water 

 contaminant measurements. 



GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS 



**An assessment should be made as to whether a purely voluntary program 

 is sufficient to address identified needs, even if funding and support were 

 broadly expanded. Other economic and regulatory approaches should be seriously 

 investigated. The existing sediment and erosion control statute should be amended to 

 remove its agricultural exemption, and town ordinances should likewise. The Rhode 

 Island Water Quality Act should be broadly interpreted so as to enable the state to take 

 action in cases of significant water quality degradation. 



***Most product sale prices inadequately reflea the cost of conservation practice 

 installation. To allocate cost of practice installation fairly among the operator (who 

 generally cannot exert control over produa sale price) and the average 70 consumers which 

 an operator provides witii food and fiber, sufficient state cost share funding must 

 be made available to ensure that all applicable operators are financially able 

 to participate in appropriate non-point source control programs. 



***Conservation district funding and staffing levels should be augmented 

 to enable the districts to carry out expanding responsibilities. 



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