Water Quality and Animal Feeding Operations in Arizona: A Producer's Notebook

Introduction

The West Maricopa County Geographical Priority Area (GPA) Local Work Group (LWG) has worked with those listed on page iv to put together this notebook to assist dairy operators, feedlot operators, and others who are confronted with issues concerning animal waste management.  Funding was made possible through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), EQIP Education Assistance program (see page 4-4), University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension, Arizona Department of Agriculture (ADA), and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) through a grant to ADA.  As regulations become more comprehensive and complex, the LWG saw the need to provide information to those affected. 

This notebook is part of an overall educational effort that the LWG is developing with its partners, the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension and ADA.  Other elements of the educational effort are:

• On-line information at http://ag.arizona.edu/animalwaste
• Training workshops
• Nutrient management software

The West Maricopa County LWG is comprised of representatives from the NRCS, Agua Fria-New River Natural Resource Conservation District (NRCD), Buckeye Valley NRCD, Gila Bend NRCD, Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the FSA County Committee. 

Updated material for the notebook will be provided as it becomes available.  Most of the pages in this notebook can also be found on the website listed above.

The notebook has the following sections:

• Regulatory Agencies.  This section provides contact information for many county, state, and federal regulations relevant to Animal Feeding Operations (AFO)
  
  
• Federal Regulations.  This section provides information on the Clean Water Act as it relates to AFOs, Frequently Asked Questions, a map of 25-year, 24-hour rain events for Arizona, information on EPA inspections, and a copy of the Arizona General NPDES Permit to help producers understand federal guidelines.
  
  
• State Regulations.  This section provides information on state regulations, including a list of state regulations, what to expect when being inspected, the ADEQ inspection checklist, and what the possible outcomes of an inspection may be.
  
  
• Financial and Technical Assistance Agencies.  This section provides useful information on who to contact for assistance to bring the facility into compliance with regulations.  These contacts will be especially important in the event an inspection results in a Notice of Violation or a Notice of Opportunity to Correct.  This section also has a listing of consultants and laboratories that can provide assistance.
  
  
• Nutrient Management.  This section has information from NRCS on nutrient management that will assist AFO owners/operators to wisely use their nutrients to grow crops.  In addition, a University of Arizona publication contains information on nitrogen fertilizer management in Arizona. 
  
  
• Logbook.  This logbook was developed by ADA’s Agricultural Consultation and Training Program to assist AFO’s in collecting data necessary to comply with regulations and permits.