Best Management Practices for Small-Scale Agriculture

by Bea McKamey, Evergreen State Coll, Olympia, WA, USA,
Dick Wallace, Evergreen State Coll, Olympia, WA, USA,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Coastal Zone '87

Abstract:

Best Management Practice (BMP) concepts, identified in response to Clean Water Act requirements, provide nonregulatory techniques for minimizing water degradation, through identification of site-specific pollution control techniques. Small-scale dairying, beef production and horse keeping are the most common farm activities affecting estuarine and coastal waters. The impacts of these traditional land uses on estuaries can be reduced by use of BMPs on both commercial and noncommercial animal-keeping operations where direct regulatory measures would be inappropriate or ineffective. BMPs for small-scale animal-keeping operations can be generally categorized as stream corridor management, pasture management, waste management, and runoff control. Water quality in rural coastal communities can be enhanced by BMPs, but the necessity for the practices must first be understood and accepted by those who must adopt them.

Subject Headings: Water pollution | Agricultural wastes | Waste management | Best Management Practices (BMPs) | Stormwater management | Water quality | Estuaries

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