Water Quality
Water—it’s something most of us take for granted. Every time we turn on the tap it magically appears. Panic sets in when we twist the knob and nothing pours from the spigot.
The same thunderstorm that killed three DC tourists taking shelter under a tree also rolled over the farm and deposited five strikes in the hayfield sending a powerful charge through the groundwater. A well with a long cable of copper wires acts like a lightning rod on a building but pointing downward instead of up. I knew the strikes had been close thanks to my handy weather app. Only when I went to brush my teeth before bed did I get an inkling of the damage Mother Nature had done; I had no water. Fortunately I got a call into the repair people early enough I was first on the list of what was a full day of fixing wells that had been struck by lightning. A new well controller was installed (the computer that runs the whole system) and the water again flowed. There would be no hand-pumping from the stone-lined cistern build in the late 1800’s as has been done in the past when water was needed before repairs could be completed.
When I shared this news with my customers the following week at market who always ask, “So, what happened on the farm this week?” I was struck by their lack of knowledge about the source of their own tap water. They were shocked to realize that when I lose power I also lose water, unlike a municipal source which continues when residential power goes out.
In twenty years of selling at farmers markets, I’ve witnessed consumers taking more responsibility over the foods they purchase. They want to know the farming practices—organic, humane, grass-fed, soy-free, etc. I’ve had questions about debeaking poultry, using pesticides, parasite control, and transportation to the butcher shop. But not once has anyone ever asked about water, the most critical aspect of not just agriculture, but for humanity as a whole.
The following week I queried those same customers if they knew the source of their tap water. Not a single person said yes. Reservoirs and wells were the occasional stabs at an answer. Truthfully, I didn’t know either so I went digging. Turns out the municipal water supply for Montgomery County is sourced from the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers, the Potomac supplying the majority of public drinking water.
The Potomac River is 405 miles long, with a basin of 14,700 square miles, and is the fourth-largest river along the East Coast. Over half (55%) of the basin’s drainage area is covered by forests. Developed land makes up 14 %, and agriculture covers 26%. Water and wetlands cover 5 %. Everything drains into the Chesapeake Bay.
So consider the fact that everything that gets put on to the ground, into the water, and on to the roads eventually ends up in the water supply. Herbicides, pesticides, liquid manure, chemical fertilizers, sewage, salt, oil, to name some of the big ones. That’s why conservation districts have been pushing for farmers and municipalities to install and maintain riparian buffers which act as natural filters. Riparian buffers are green zones made up of native vegetation that run from the water’s edge to the far side of the wetlands.
In addition to acting as a filter, these buffer zones also help to alleviate flooding as they function as natural sponges not only soaking up water, but also capturing silt and soil from erosion. The abundance of vegetation attracts and supports important wildlife such as pollinators and insect eating birds and mammals which help reduce disease-carrying vectors such as mosquitoes.
Although the surface water drawn from the rivers goes through a filtration and treatment process to ensure that it meets federal drinking water standards, increasing nutrient loads from concentrated animal feeding operations, industrial activity, new mining operations, and residential development upstream are overwhelming current water treatment systems requiring costly upgrades.
Here in the mid-Atlantic region significant steps have been taken to clean up our waterways and protect watersheds, but we still have a long way to go. To learn more about what you can do to help protect your watershed, go to https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/water/ and https://www.potomacdwspp.org