Partners for Water Quality Protection

Groundwater Pesticide Strategy

The ND Department of Agriculture (NDDA) is responsible for the State Management Plan for Pesticides and Groundwater. This plan must be approved by the U.S. EPA before certain pesticides may be used in the state. A component of the State Management Plan is voluntary adoption of management systems that reduce the potential for pesticide leaching to groundwater. NDSU Extension and the NDDA have collaborated since 1991 to develop and deliver educational programs directed to the meeting the objectives of voluntary groundwater protection. Contacts for this program are John Nowatzki, Ag. & Biosystems Engineering, NDSU and Jeff Olson, Plant Industries Program, ND Department of Agriculture

 

Water Quality Protection Through the Application of Remote Sensing to Land Use Identification

The North Dakota office of the Agricultural Statistics Service (NDASS), USDA maintains a system of surveyors in the state to help determine production and acreage estimates of various crops. Recently NDASS began complimenting its field data with landuse images taken from satellites. The result of combining field data gathered from the established survey system with satellite images is an accurate representation of landuse for the whole state of North Dakota on an annual schedule. Because landuse plays an important role in contaminant movement to water resources, the application of the landuse images to contamination assessment practically a requirement. NDSU Extension and NDASS have collaborated since 2000 to deliver landuse images for North Dakota on an annual basis and develop training programs to advance the use of this product for natural resource management. Contacts for this program are Dath Mita , Ag & Bisosystems Engineering, NDSU and William Meyer , NDASS.