Op-Ed: One water district is trying to make sure agriculture cleans up its own mess

A Central California water board is poised to do something rare in American agriculture: It is trying to establish enforcement mechanisms — not just toothless regulations — to limit the use of farm fertilizers that contribute to dangerous levels of groundwater pollution. As a result, nitrate pollution levels in some parts of the region are among the highest in California, according to Matt Keeling, the Central Coast board’s executive officer. The Central Coast water board’s proposed regulations wouldn’t prevent farmers from using nitrate. Data collected by the Central Coast water board bears this out: More than half of the region’s farmers report that they apply more nitrate than is recommended for their crops, and some use two to four times as much, according to Keeling. She told me that the water board’s draft order “could lead to losses of up to 11,000 jobs and $309 million in income, mostly in disadvantaged communities.” Keeling declined to address the federation’s estimates, but he acknowledges that by 2026, the nitrate restrictions would require farmers to modify their practices — switching to crops that are particularly good at absorbing nitrate, such as broccoli, or reducing crop cycles per year.