Dairy Farms Linked to O.C. Water Woes

This year’s heavy rains have sent a stew of cow waste, hay and dirt gushing from Inland Empire dairy farms down the Santa Ana River and into Orange County’s aquifers, heightening concerns about the quality of local ground water in the long term.

The brown, murky runoff contains high levels of nitrates, toxic substances that in large enough amounts can be dangerous. Officials emphasized that, while there is no immediate threat to public health, nitrates in heavy concentrations can harm newborns and have been linked to miscarriages and other health problems.

The dairy runoff, along with treated waste water that is dumped into the river from Riverside and other communities to the north, flows down the Santa Ana River through the Prado Dam and into Anaheim, where some of it seeps into Orange County’s vast ground water supply.

Over the past 30 years, nitrate levels found in ground water pumped from North County wells along the river have more than tripled. Though the levels remain within federal health standards, officials said the trend is alarming and could spread to other wells unless the problem is addressed.

The Orange County Water District blames nitrate-laden dairy runoff for killing thousands of trout and bass last month at an Anaheim fishing lake after a heavy rainstorm.

“It’s a emerging problem,” said Jim Van Haun, associate general manager of the water district. “The area upstream on the river is the largest concentration of dairy farms in the country. Consider that one cow is the biological equivalent of eight humans. That’s the equivalent of 2.5 million people in an area that is essentially unsewered.”

Water officials, farmers and upstream communities are working to address the problem using old-fashioned flood-control techniques and ecological innovation.

The Orange County Water District last year converted several miles of open space north of the Prado Dam into lush wetlands of 50 shallow ponds. The district now diverts about half of the river’s flow through the marsh, which naturally removes most of the nitrates.

Measures Discussed to Stop Runoff

Riverside County farmers and water agencies, meanwhile, are discussing a new and expensive flood control system that would prevent storm runoff generated in urban areas from flowing into the dairy farms and polluting the river.

“We are all trying hard, but it’s going to cost a lot of money,” said Corona-area farmer Geoffrey Vanden Heuvel. “For a long time, water quality really wasn’t an issue up here. Now it is. We all recognize the importance of clean water.”

The stakes also are high for Orange County residents and businesses, who get more than half of their water from local wells.

Federal drinking water standards allow a maximum of 10 milligrams of nitrates per liter of water. Nitrate levels in North County production wells near the Santa Ana River have climbed from practically zero in 1962 to as high as 8 milligrams per liter in 1997.

Water from those wells is diluted with water from other areas, making the final product that comes out of the tap low in nitrates.

“It’s manageable now. But if you look 50 years down the road, our concern is the problem will spread to other areas in the ground water basin,” Van Haun said.

Nitrates are created from human and animal wastes. The most serious health problem attributed to the substance is “blue baby” syndrome, a potentially fatal oxygen deprivation in infants younger than 6 months.

In parts of Corona and Norco, runoff has seeped into aquifers and forced officials to close ground water wells, because the nitrate levels exceeded federal standards.

And the problem is spreading. Nearly half of the water in the Inland Empire’s subterranean basins could be undrinkable by 2015 because of pollution, according to a study prepared by the Santa Ana River Watershed Project Authority.

Officials blame the situation in part on the urbanization of the Inland Empire, which sends increasing amounts of runoff and treated waste water into the river. Another factor is the gradual migration of dairy farmers from La Palma, Cerritos and Los Alamitos to the undeveloped flatlands north of Corona.

“The dairies have been around the Corona area for only about 30 years or so,” said Richard Smith, acting general manager of the Santa Ana River Watershed Project Authority. “They got pushed out of that [western Orange County] area by development; now they are here.”

Dairy farming is a wet and muddy business because under federal agriculture laws, the cows must be washed regularly. When farmers first moved to the area in the 1960s, much of the runoff simply flowed into the Santa Ana River.

In recent years, as a growing number of dairy farms increased the pollution, new laws have required more extensive irrigation to keep the dirty water out of the river. Farmers have erected dikes, berms and lagoons that usually prevent the dairy waste from reaching the river and connecting streams.

Too Much Rain Overwhelms Defenses

During rains, however, urban runoff from the north flows onto the farms, mixing with the dairy water and overwhelming the protections. Making matters worse, this year’s El Nino storms have damaged the irrigation systems on some farms.

“That storm water is so powerful it just breaks through our defenses,” said Bob Feenstra, general manager of the local Milk Producers Council. “Our facilities can’t hold the water.”

The nitrate levels are highest north of the Prado Dam as the runoff hits the river. By the time it reaches Orange County, the water has been diluted somewhat with large amounts of storm runoff and rain water.

Feenstra and others say the recent rains have focused more attention on the need for better flood control in southern Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where most of the dairy farms are located.

Officials are seeking state and federal funding to construct curbs and gutters along some local roads to prevent urban runoff from flooding farms. There has also been talk of trying to increase the capacity of upstream storm drains and even building a water treatment plant if money can be secured.

The Orange County Water District, however, already has found success with a natural water purification system that is winning national recognition.

Worried about the rising nitrate levels in some Orange County wells, the district built a 400-acre marsh behind Prado Dam. Completed last year, it has vegetation such as duckweed, cattail and bulrush, and is surrounded by a wall of willow trees.

About half the water flowing down the Santa Ana River is diverted into the wetlands, where the pond plants absorb nitrates and bacteria convert some of them into harmless nitrogen gas.

Preliminary projections indicate that the wetlands have reduced nitrates by at least 15% to 20%.

As much as 60 million gallons of water flows through the wetlands daily. The water district estimates that the marshes can remove as much as a ton of nitrates a day. The system is far less costly than building a water treatment plant, they add.

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Nitrate Problem

Dairy runoff, along with treated waste water from Riverside and other communities, is dumping nitrates into the Santa Ana River. The river, which flows through wetlands, past the Prado Dam and into Anaheim, is a main replenisher of Orange County’s ground water basin, or aquifer. A closer look at the path:

1. Dairy farms: Highest concentration of dairy cows in the U.S.

2. Wetlands: Up to 50% of the Santa Ana River diverted through wetlands, which naturally wash nitrates from water into soil, grasses; balance of water flows downstream

3. Aquifers: River water diverted into holding ponds, where it percolates into aquifer, raising ground water levels

4. North County ground water wells: High levels of nitrates found; water heavily diluted with nitrate-free water before introduced into public water system, so tap water contains low levels of nitrates

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About Nitrates

Nitrates come from human and animal wastes, typically septic tanks or agricultural runoff and fertilizers. Other facts:

* Nitrates are associated with “blue baby” syndrome and miscarriages, because high levels can cut off oxygen flow in the body

* High nitrate levels trigger eutrophication, algae blooms so dense that oxygen levels drop to zero near the bottom of lakes and rivers; may cause massive fish kills

* Federal clean drinking-water standards allow up to 10 milligrams of nitrates per liter; water in the Anaheim wells measures between 1 and 9 milligrams

Source: Orange County Water District and Times reports

Researched by SHELBY GRAD / Los Angeles Times