Minnesota cannot clean up polluted waterways or protect relatively clean waters from pollution without seriously addressing agricultural runoff. Whether it’s rivers and shallow lakes in southern Minnesota (where the problem is severe) or the lakes country east of Fargo-Moorhead (where signs of deterioration are undeniable), more has to be done to reduce pollution from so-called “nonpoint” sources. Agriculture is the biggest nonpoint source of water pollution in the state.
Gov. Mark Dayton’s “buffer-strip” water quality proposal is being vilified by farm groups and some segments of agribusiness. That’s no surprise. As a mainstay of the state’s economy, the farm sector has significant influence over public policy, and that fact is reflected in representation in the Legislature.
Mostly, what is good for farming is good for all Minnesotans. But the attempt to paint an effort to protect the state’s waterways as radical government regulation of the private sector is less than credible. When farmers insist they are good stewards of land and water, they likely believe they are. But when evidence is overwhelming that farm runoff is a major contributor to water degradation, it’s clear they haven’t been as responsible as they say they are. That’s not a rap on all farmers. Rather, it’s recognizing the obvious. It’s responding to generations of farming practices – nearly all adopted in good faith – that are polluting rivers and lakes, and have been for decades.
The recently released report from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency should be a wake-up call for residents of northern Minnesota – the lakes country, for example. MPCA’s research found a startling divide between water quality in the south and water quality in the north. Southern waters are in trouble, and ag runoff is a major factor. Northern waters are showing signs of deterioration but are not as polluted as southern lakes and rivers.
However, lakeshore development and more intensive agriculture practices threaten northern waters. Indeed, there are both anecdotal stories and science-based reports every summer of “changes” in northern lakes that go to everything from more frequent and longer-lasting algal blooms to growth of nutrient-loving lake weeds in places where years before there were no weeds.
Farm field and animal operations runoff pollutes water. Lakeside development can be damaging, also. But “point” sources of pollution can be identified, managed and when necessary, regulated. Non-point pollution is another matter. Agriculture has successfully resisted responsible water pollution regulation for generations. Dayton’s buffer vegetation strip legislation, bolstered by the MPCA report, is a modest start. It comports with one of the main provisions of the voter-passed Legacy Amendment: clean waters. It won’t solve a very big problem, but it’s a step in the right direction. Minnesotans who value their lakes and rivers ( in this area the beautiful lakes country east of Fargo-Moorhead) should be on board.
Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper’s Editorial Board.
