August 16, 2010, Modesto, CA – The Western United Dairymen (WUD) were
recently awarded a grant to support development of a water balance
approach for seepage measurements from liquid dairy manure storage
ponds.
August 16, 2010, Modesto, CA – The Western United Dairymen (WUD) were recently awarded a grant to support development of a water balance approach for seepage measurements from liquid dairy manure storage ponds.
The $111,692 grant is a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) awarded by the USDA.
“This project will demonstrate technology anticipated to help dairy producers find a more economical method to determine if lagoon ponds are leaking,” explained Paul Martin, WUD’s director of environmental services.
While the project has the goal of assisting Central Valley dairies that are dealing with issues of ground water nitrate levels, the technology could also be adopted by dairies in other regions.
WUD is partnering on the project with UC Davis, Dairy CARES and Luhdorff and Scalmanini, Consulting Engineers. The NRCS grant provides half of the funding necessary. The balance of the funding will come through partner in-kind services and a cash match of $80,000 to be provided from industry sources through the Dairy CARES coalition.
The project involves demonstration projects at five dairies. Following the demonstration and data collection phase, the partners will produce a technical field manual to facilitate widespread technology transfer.
