Water Resource Collections and Archives

Dairies Project

Organization: Sustainable Conservation
2001 Grant Recipient - San Francisco County

Purpose
When most people think about pollution, they think of exhaust fumes from automobiles, and smoke billowing from factory pipes. They don't think of dairy farms as major polluters. Yet, according to the State of California Water Quality Control Board, dairies are one of agriculture's most significant sources of water pollution. In fact, dairy waste threatens the quality of drinking water for up to 20 million Californians.

The pollution created by dairies comes primarily from manure-tons and tons of manure. Statewide, dairy cows create more than 55 billion pounds of manure per year. Even when applied as fertilizer, this excess waste runs off into California's waterways, eventually contaminating aquatic habitats and public water sources. A major source of reactive organic gases, dairy manure also contributes to air pollution.

Sustainable Conservation's Dairies Project, a collaborative partnership of dairies, government agencies, and environmentalists, works to find cost-effective solutions to managing dairy waste.

Electricity Generated from Cow Manure To help reduce the harmful impact of dairy manure on the environment, the Dairies Project has promoted such innovative technologies and practices as:

• Anaerobic digesters that treat manure while extracting methane for electricity generation
• Net metering -- a money-saving process by which an electric meter runs in reverse when a digester produces more energy than the farmer needs
• Convenient composting sites for farms to convert agricultural waste into soil nutrients
• Nutrient management systems that reduce groundwater contamination from manure

Since the inception of the Dairies Project in 2000, dozens of dairies have implemented these practices on their farms, and more than 1000 dairy farmers have completed an environmental stewardship course. Now, we hope to expand this progress throughout the state.

NRPI Database Entry
http://www.ice.ucdavis.edu/nrpi/NRPIDescription.asp?ProjectPK=389

Primary Contact for the Project
Allen Dusault
Program Director
Sustainable Conservation
Phone: (415) 977-0380
Email: ADusault@SusCon.org

Secondary Contact for the Project
Ashley Boren
Executive Director
Sustainable Conservation
Phone: (415) 977-0380
Email: ABoren@SusCon.org