CHARITABLE TRUST • Hadrian Cook
Farming in the ‘Big Apple’ watershed Hadrian Cook of Imperial College, Wye, used a Farmers Club Charitable Trust Scholarship to visit the New York State Water Resources Institute (NYSWRI) at Cornell University to compare agriculture and water management between the UK and the US. Here is a précis of his report. DEBATE around the means of achieving clean water and quality food production never ceases. Remove industrial effluent and urban wastewater from the equation and the farmer remains to be accused of contaminating the water we drink. Others believe that legislation and regulation can bankrupt those who work to feed the nation. Preferably, many of us (farmers, water professionals and academics), instead propose ‘win-win solutions’ that balance the responsibilities of two industries ensuring delivery of wholesome food, potable water and a sustainable environment. However, the means vary and there is much to learn from international comparisons at a time when UK farmers face increasingly stringent measures to protect water supplies. Experience in the United States is especially relevant. The structure of US agriculture is complicated, involving federal support for a range of crops, meat and milk products, and there is an enviable tradition of agricultural extension. Sadly, there are also ‘horror’ stories regarding water-born disease in cities using water that originates in the rural hinterland. A particularly notorious outbreak caused by polluted drinking water was the epidemic in 1983, in Milwwaukee, Wisconsin, which infected over 400,000 people with cryptosporidiosis, killing more than 50.. The drinking water was fully treated, including filtration, though, unfortunately, some authorities regard filters as unreliable in removing the pathogen Cryprosporidium parvum.
Pathogen priority Understandably, US water legislation has now made pathogens a priority. Nutrient control (especially phosphorous) is also a concern, because algae are a pre-cursor to cancer-causing organics in drinking water. Watershed rules and regulations to protect water supplies were first adopted in New York State in 1885, and planning the New York City Watershed in the Catskill region began in 1906. In the wake of the US Safe Drinking Water Act 1974 came watershed planning for environmental protection.