Cattlemen use BMPs to help sustain a part of Florida’s heritage

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Restoration focus area identified in Santa Fe BasinP. 5

Mobile Irrigation Lab helps farmers save millions of gallons

P. 4

Cost-share program for on-farm weather stationsP. 5

FLORIDAAG WATER

NEWSVolume 1 | Issue 1Spring 2013

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTORWelcome to the first edition of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer services (FDACS) Office of Agricultural Water Policy’s newsletter. We plan to distribute Florida Ag Water News twice a year to a com-prehensive list of stakeholders. We welcome and encourage your feedback.

The most noteworthy recent news was the announcement earlier in March that the Flori-da Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had reached agreement on the details of completing the establishment of Numeric Nutrient Criteria for all of Florida’s surface waters. The agreement puts Florida back in charge of protecting its waters and will result in the EPA withdrawing all of their federal rules. This is the outcome that most of us working on the issue over the last five years had hoped for.

For agricultural producers, it means that the well established FDACS Best Management Practices (BMP) program will continue to be the preferred path for achieving compliance

with all state water quality standards. We ap-preciate the agriculture industry and others for supporting our BMP program.

The legslature is in full swing and Tallahas-see is buzzing with related activities. FDACS is pursuing a change to Part VII of Chapter 373, Florida Statutes, that would establish a formal role for the department to participate in helping the water management districts develop future water demand projections for agricultural land uses. We will report back on the result of this effort in our next newsletter.

I hope you enjoy our articles and I look for-ward to your response.

Rich Budell,Director, Office of Agricultural Water Policy

P. 2Department adopts new statewide citrus manual

P. 3 BMP Enrollment Figures

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Department water supply planning role increasesFDACS has become much more involved in the regional water supply planning process over the past year, and is actively par-ticipating in the Central Florida Water Initiative (CFWI). This DEP-led effort focuses on a 5-county area comprised of Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk and Seminole counties, and includes the South Florida, Southwest Florida and St. Johns River water manage-ment districts.

Rich Budell serves on the CWFI Steering Committee, and Office of Agricultural Water Policy staff members represent the department on the Management Oversight Committee, Hydrologic Analysis Team, Regional Water Supply Plan Team and Ground-water Availability Team.

Pending legislation would give the department a more formal role in the water supply planning process. The department would be required to establish an agricultural water supply plan-ning program to develop data on future agricultural water supply demand.

To determine the best available data for regional water supply planning, water management districts would be required to consider the department’s data. Any adjustment to or deviation from the department’s data would have to be fully explained, and the original department data would have to be presented along with the modified data.

Department adopts new statewide citrus manual

The department adopted a new statewide citrus BMP manual, Water Quality/Quantity Best Management Practices for Florida Citrus, on Jan. 9. This new manual incorporates the four region-based citrus programs: Ridge Citrus, Indian River Citrus, Gulf Citrus and the Peace River/Mana-sota basins. All citrus operations that enroll in department BMPs as of Jan. 9 must submit a Notice of Intent under the new statewide manual.

Over the past month, growers rep-resenting about 10,000 acres have enrolled or re-enrolled under the new statewide citrus manual. Benefits of participation include a presumption of compliance with state water qual-ity standards, a release from fines or damages related to pollutants addressed by BMPs, and eligibility for BMP implementation cost-share funds.

Ridge Citrus Growers

Growers now participating in the Ridge Citrus BMP have until Jan. 8, 2015, to enroll in the statewide man-ual and implement applicable BMPs, in order to maintain their presump-tion of compliance with state water quality standards. Notices of Intent to implement BMPs submitted under the previous Ridge Citrus rule will be invalid after this 2-year period.

David “Bo” Griffin is leading the effort to reenroll Ridge Citrus grow-ers in the new statewide manual, and can be contacted at (863) 402-7020 or David.Griffin@Fresh-FromFlorida.com. Growers also may contact Susie Bishop at sbishop@highlandsswcd.org. Please contact Bo or Susie for Ridge Citrus reenroll-ment or first-time enrollment soon to take advantage of cost-share oppor-tunities.

Flatwoods Citrus Growers

Growers currently enrolled under one of the three region-based Flatwoods Citrus Manuals (Indian River, Gulf and Peace River/Manasota) are grandfathered under the new rule.

However, growers must continue to implement the applicable BMPs and must follow guidelines in Nutrition of Florida Citrus Trees, Second Edition, UF/IFAS Publication SL253 from January 2008, that are relevant to their operations.

Flatwoods Citrus growers who are re-establishing or renovating groves already enrolled under a region-based manual must contact the department for assistance in submit-ting an NOI under the new statewide manual at (850) 617-1727 or AgBMPHelp@FreshFromFlorida.com.

Issuing Binding DeterminationsSince July 2011, FDACS staff have con-ducted 22 binding permitting exemp-tion determinations under section 373.407, Florida Statutes. Requests were submitted, both from affected landowners and water management district staff in all water management districts except for Northwest Florida.

Some of the determinations found a number of normal and customary agri-cultural activities to be exempt. These determinations are dependent on site-specific circumstances and region- and community-specific practices. They are made on a case-by-case basis after careful deliberation, site inspection and review of available information.

Producers seeking binding determinations can contact department staff only after a documented dispute between the land-ownder and the water management district.Examples of activities determined to be exempt include:• Certain access roads through wetlands

(especially those associated with prop-erty boundary borders)

• Installation of water control structures within ditches for water quality and quantity purposes

• Grandfathered agricultural surface water management systems in place prior to 1984

• Timber harvesting in wetlands and associated land smoothing activities

• Ditch realignment activities to maintain historic onsite or offsite flows

Usage Acres Enrolled

# of NOIs

Citrus 563,693.20 3,365Cow/Calf 1,752,488.05 669Dairies 52,392.37 29Equine 628.35 13Forestry 52,741.00 1Fruit Orchards

4,286.53

96

Mixed Use 48,333.57 2Nursery 28,674.58 1,165Row Crops 908,561.50 784Sod Farms

33,321.33

55

Specialty Farms

553.92

3

Total 3,445,674.30 6,182

For more information about BMP enrollment

maps or to view maps by water management district, click here.

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RESOURCES & LINKSFAQs FOR AGRICULTURAL BMPs

BY THE NUMBERS - FLORIDA AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES

UF/IFAS Center for Pub-lic Issues Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources webinar focus-es on public opinion of water issuesWatch it here

BMP ENROLLMENTas of December 31, 2012

Mobile Irrigation Lab helps farmers save millions of gallons in North FloridaAn irrigation system evaluation and ret-rofit program, funded in part by FDACS, is helping farmers increase irrigation effi-ciency and conserve water resources.

Mobile Irrigation Labs (MIL) are one- two-person teams that provide irrigation system evaluations free of charge to agricultural producers and residential and commercial water users throughout Florida. The MILs develop recommen-dations on improving the efficiency of existing irrigation systems and equip-ment, and educate their customers and the general public on water conserva-tion, irrigation planning, and irrigation management. Fifteen MILs currently provide services in 66 counties. They receive funding and other support from the department, several water manage-ment districts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conserva-tion Service, and several counties and utilities.

“There are almost 600 farms on a wait-ing list for MIL services,” said depart-ment engineer Camilo Gaitan, who supervises the statewide MIL program. “Without partnerships it is much harder to provide MIL services because of the cost.”

An MIL serves 15 counties within the Suwannee River Water Management District. In Suwannee County alone, this MIL has helped farmers save almost 9 million gallons of water per center pivot, or more than 100,000 gallons per acre.

“We were fortunate last fall to get the MIL on the ground here in Suwannee,” said Hugh Thomas, an environmental manager with the department. “There had previously been an MIL and retrofit program in Suwannee in the mid-2000s, but many of the irrigation systems now need a new evaluation to be in compli-ance with the department’s BMP pro-gram, and potentially require retrofitting to improve operating efficiency.”

In addition to funding MILs, the depart-ment provides assistance to agricultural producers through cost-share programs. These programs help offset the expense of implementing new technologies that allow producers to manage water

Agricultural Water Policy Advisory Council Meeting Summary

resources more efficiently.

With free irrigation system evaluations and the availability of cost-share fund-ing to retrofit less-efficient irrigation systems, farmers in the Suwannee area have been able to implement MIL recom-mendations, resulting in significant water savings.

The MILs evaluate a variety of irrigation systems, but center pivots are common in the Suwannee area. Center-pivot irrigation uses equipment that rotates around a pivot point and waters crops from over head through sprinkler nozzles attached to drop hoses.

“What the MIL technicians do is visit a producer on the farm at the pivot site to determine system operations, crop types, and crop rotations; then they put out a series of catch buckets underneath the length of a pivot,” said Thomas.

“The system moves over the buckets, which catch the irrigation water. The MIL technicians measure and analyze the water in each bucket, which tells them how water is being distributed across the system and whether or not the equipment is operating as designed. The technicians also assess the irriga-tion system for gasket leaks and other problems. The producer receives a sprinkler chart and efficiency report with recommendations.”

Producers participating in the cost-share program meet with the MIL technicians during the initial evaluation, install the cost-shared new technology or equip-ment on the irrigation system accord-ing to their recommendations, and undergo a post-installation evaluation to determine how the improvements have affected system efficiency.

As a result of cumulative implementa-tion of MIL recommendations, agricul-ture conserves 10 billion gallons of water each year. MIL services helped producers save an additional one billion gallons of water in the last year alone.

“These irrigation systems aren’t designed to grow a crop; they’re

designed to supplement rainfall,” said Hugh Thomas. “Unfortunately, for the past several years parts of Florida have been in a drought during crop season, and producers have had to rely on irriga-tion to grow their crops. The MIL pro-gram helps producers know how much water is needed to do that as efficiently as possible.”

MIL technician Dale Bryant estimates there are about 2,000 center pivot irriga-tion systems in their service area.

“That’s a lot of straws in the aquifer,” said Bryant. “When you think about how much water we can save on each pivot through irrigation evaluations and retro-fits, it really makes a huge impact.”

The third FDACS Agricultural Water Policy Advisory Council met on Dec. 7, 2012, in Gainesville to discuss water quality Numeric Nutrient Criteria, the Lake Okeechobee Protection Program and the upcoming Lake Okeechobee Basin Management Action Plan.

The council and audience heard updates on the Lake Okeechobee Protection Plan from Bob Brown with the South Florida Water Manage-ment District and Rich Budell from the department. Bob Brown gave a histori-cal overview of the plan and highlighted project successes and continuing challenges.

Rich Budell spoke of the high agricul-tural BMP participation rates within the Lake Okeechobee Watershed and the continuing enrollment efforts in the northern part of the basin. Drew Bartlett of FDEP gave an overview of the BMAP process and announced the Lake Okeechobee BMAP kick-off meet-ing, which was scheduled for February 2013.

The next meeting is tentatively sched-uled for June 7, 2013. An agenda will be available online prior to the meeting.

Restoration focus area identified in Santa Fe BasinThe Florida Department of Environmen-tal Protection and the Florida Depart-ment of Agriculture and Consumer Services are working near Ginnie-Gil-christ Springs to identify the state’s first official restoration focus area, or RFA, within the Santa Fe Basin Management Action Plan.

The Ginnie-Gilchrist Springs restoration focus area was established based on availability of water quality data, spring-shed delineation, level of nitrate load-ings, opportunities for BMP program enrollment, importance of agriculture to the local economy and other criteria.

Basin Management Action Plans, or BMAPs, require producers to enroll in agricultural BMPs in order to address water quality issues or implement a water quality monitoring program. The Santa Fe BMAP also provides for the identification of one or more restoration focus areas, in which staff resources, enrollment efforts and cost-share funds

are focused to demonstrate water qual-ity results.

“The restoration focus area landscape is relatively reflective of what we’ll see in the entire BMAP in terms of indus-trial, agricultural and residential land use,” said Hugh Thomas, environmental manager with the agriculture depart-ment.

Water quality data from monitoring wells will help determine what suite of BMPs are effective and what other prac-tices could be needed. A monitoring well network managed by FDEP and the Suwannee River Water Management District were already in the restoration focus area, and additional wells have been installed.

“The idea was to put additional moni-toring wells in this RFA to verify the effectiveness of BMPs,” said Thomas. “They’ve actually been able to install wells on the edge of some of the farms

with the farmers’ permission. Farmers are interested in water quality, too, not just regulatory agencies.”

Data collected from monitoring wells on agricultural operations will not be used in a regulatory manner.

While enrollment and cost-share activi-ties will continue throughout the entire BMAP, the effort within the restoration focus area will help determine what strategies are most effective in reduc-ing nutrient impacts to water resources and develop similar strategies for other areas that may be established.

Department staff will be meeting with producers located within the Ginnie-Gil-christ Springs Restoration Focus Area to discuss BMP implementation goals and strategies and identify priority BMPs and cost-share funding opportunities.

Cost-share program for on-farm weather stationsFDACS has established a cost-share pro-gram to help producers enrolled in BMPs purchase on-site weather stations and temperature sensors. Funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis. How-ever, requests related to irrigation for frost/freeze protection will be given priority.

Producers who own operations with less than 300 acres of production land may apply for one station and up to five temper-ature sensors for each operation. Produc-ers who own larger operations may apply for one station and up to five temperature sensors for each 300 acres of production land on the operation(s). The department will provide 75 percent of the cost up to a $25,000 maximum per producer, with a $5,000 cap per station/sensors set.

The stations will be installed by a company that agrees to meet the approved specifica-tions, at the on-site location(s) the farmer designates.

300 acres or less of production land

1 weather station and up to 5 temperature sensors

75% with $5,000 cap for each

operation $25,000 total maximum per

producerMore than 300 acres of production land

1 weather station and up to 5 temperature sensors per

300 acres

75% with $5,000 cap for each 300

acres

These weather stations will collect real-time information throughout the year on rainfall, air temperature, relative humidity, dew point, wind speed, and wind direction. The information will be accessible to produc-ers on their smartphones and computers, through a University of Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN) website.

Why purchase a weather station? The use of weather stations helps producers:

• Better determine when to delay irrigation after rainfall and when to irrigate during frost/freeze events, which can reduce water use and save costs on pump opera-tion.

• Better determine when to use fungicide

or pesticide sprays or foliar fertilizer appli-cations, which can avoid waste and save related costs.

• Enhance the potential for reducing the pumping of surface and ground water and the runoff and leaching of fertilizers and other farm chemicals into water resources.

Producers within the Southwest Florida Water Management District may contact Jessica Stempien at 813-985-7481, ext. 2125, or JessicaLea.Stempien@FreshFrom-Florida.com.

Producers outside of the Southwest Florida Water Management District may contact Susie Bishop at 863-402-4020, or sbish-op@highlandsswcd.org.

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Cattlemen use BMPs to help sustain a part of Florida’s heritageCattle were introduced to Florida’s sandy shores 500 years ago, mak-ing the cattle industry almost as old as the state since its colonization. For the past five centuries, Florida’s cattle industry has aided in the state’s economic development and environmental preservation.

Cattlemen use agricultural water quality BMPs to preserve a piece of Florida history and sustain the indus-try into the future.

“Florida cattlemen strive to be good stewards of the land,” said Matt Warren, an environmental specialist with the department who works with producers to implement BMPs. “I would say 98 percent of the ranches I go and see are already implement-ing BMPs, and we simply suggest a few other practices to implement.

“Cattle ranchers’ biggest concern is being able to pass on their land to future generations; they are the con-servationists for their property, and

BMPs help them preserve it and show the state agencies and public that they are doing their part to conserve the quality of water that runs through their lands.”

The department’s BMP programs help producers increase the environmental benefits from cattle ranching.

“In general, cattle ranching is one of the least intensive uses of the land, and water quality BMPs have been implemented on many ranches to enchance natural systems,” said Florida Cattlemens Association presi-dent Woody Larson. “While it does take water to produce food and forage, most of the water is recycled and returned to the ground.”

“Florida ranches provide a tremendous service to the state as natural recharge areas, and in some cases public/pri-vate initiatives have been fostered to improve this retention and recharge benefit.”

“The question of sustainability is more economic than environmental. What would Florida look like without cattle ranching? Can Florida really maintain all the green space without a viable cattle ranching scenario?”

Click on the cover below to ac-cess the BMP manul for Cow/

Calf operations.