Farm Water Quality Planning short courses were offered from January 2001 - August 2006 by U.C. Cooperative Extension and the Natural Resources Conservation Service along with numerous program cooperators. The course was offered to assist growers of irrigated agriculture with nonpoint source pollution issues. Over two thousand growers attended one of the sixty-three courses, offered either in English, Spanish, or Chinese.
Farm Water Quality Plans were developed for individual farming operations to address watershed-specific pollutants of concern, focusing primarily on sediments, nutrients, and pesticides.
A menu of management practices were presented as potential solutions for specific nonpoint source pollution issues identified in the site-assessment of the farm, nursery, or ranch. Management practice sheets and published fact sheets are available on this website.
Course field session - looking at on-farm examples of management options
Topics covered in the 15-hour Farm Water Quality Planning short course included:
- Sediment, pesticide, nutrient, irrigation and salinity management
- Riparian area planning and permitting
- General cost-effectiveness of management practices
- Technical and financial assistance available for implementation of management practices
Course held in Spanish at the UCCE in Santa Cruz County
Field sessions allowed for an on-site evaluation of roads and riparian areas and techniques to assess the effectiveness of management practices.
A binder was provided with fact sheets and resource materials for reducing nonpoint source pollution in nursery and floriculture, strawberry, orchard and vineyard, and vegetable crops.
~ Thank you to the many growers who participated in these courses, field site hosts, as well as the outstanding speakers from all cooperating organizations ~