How can farmers keep local rivers clean?
Below is a list of what landowners and local citizens can do to help keep our rivers clean. • Trees and other vegetation along a riverbank can help capture runoff flowing towards a river and help the water percolate into the soil before it enters the stream. • Soil filters pollutants and cleans the water that passes through it. The section of vegetation along the edge of streams is called a riparian buffer. A good minimal width for the riparian buffer is 50 to 100 feet. • The way animals get their drinking water can also affect a stream. If the animals drink water from streams, they can accelerate erosion of the stream bank, or increase the amount of bacteria into the water. To stop this, farmers can install watering tanks further from the stream. Farmers can use solar power (if available) to pump water from the stream to these tanks. • Landowners can try to reduce the amount of fertilizers used on their land. If they use chemicals, like bug and weed sprays, these should be disposed of
