Is Dairy Polluting Our Drinking Water?
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According to NRDC, for the first time ever legislatures in New Mexico may move to regulate dairy farming. At issue is a battle between industrial dairy’s desire to avoid regulation and the public’s right to clean, safe drinking water. According to the state environment department, at least two-thirds of the groundwater underneath or adjacent to New Mexico’s dairy CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) has been poisoned by nitrates. When other pollutants are included, estimates of water contamination by these factory farms can rise as high as 90 percent.
After extensive review, the state proposed regulations that would, for the first time, require dairy farms to apply for waste discharge permits. Permit applications would have to include information on the depth and flow of groundwater under the farm, the amount of waste that would be disposed, and how water quality would be monitored to guard against contamination.
There have been similar lawsuits going on with regards to the drinking water in California and Wisconsin. And while there may not be lawsuits in our neck of the woods, the issue brings to light what most of us already know, that traditional dairy farms are terribly polluting.
How can you do your part to reduce the impact of the dairy industry?
With so many non-dairy milk substitutes on the market today, there’s just no reason to drink milk in the first place. Consider rice, soy, coconut, hemp, or almond milk. Coconut milk is the newest of the group and in my opinion the tastiest. If you love milk, make sure that you know where it comes from. Choose local, organic dairies that treat their animals with respect and don’t confine them in inhumane ways. Additionally, you’re likely aware of the fact that organic cows are free of the hormones and antibiotics that end up seeping into our ground water supply as well.
Because, in the end, the impact of the tradtional dairy industry in huge. For me, dairy is one of the easiest ways to reduce the impact of your diet on the planet. Consider that in the Central Valley of California, the cows produce as much excrement as a city of 21 million people, and even smaller farms of 200 cows will produce as much nitrogen as in the sewage from a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people, according to a U.S. Senate report on animal waste.