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520 West Front Street, Suite A
Traverse City, Michigan 49684-2208
Phone: 231-922-4620
Grand Traverse County
www.grandtraverse.org
E-mail: msue.grandtraverse@county.msu.edu
Fax: 231-922-4633
Web: msue.msu.edu/grandtraverse
Director: Jim Wiesing
November 2009
Groundwater program protects
northern Michigan resources
The Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program
(MGSP) provides educational, financial and technical
assistance to agricultural producers and residents to
identify and reduce groundwater contamination risks.
It encourages individuals to take voluntary, proactive
steps to protect Michigan’s groundwater—the source of
most rural residents’ drinking water. Nitrogen and
certain persistent, highly leachable pesticides have been
found in groundwater around the nation and in Michigan.
Michigan’s Groundwater and Freshwater Protection
Act provides for the collection of fees from the purchase
of nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides to support the
MGSP. More than $3.5 million is available for
educational efforts through an annual competitive grant
process.
The MGSP just completed its 15th year. During that
period, the program has assisted farmers in conducting
more than 15,000 environmental risk assessments of
management practices, structures and site conditions at
the farm headquarters through a program called
Farm*A*Syst.
The assessments help producers identify and reduce
risks to groundwater and surface water supplies. It is a
major step to becoming Michigan Agriculture
Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) verified.
More than 80 agricultural operations in Antrim, Benzie,
Leelanau and Grand Traverse counties have earned
MAEAP verification--11 percent of the state’s total.
The cropping assessment system (Crop*A*Syst) helps
producers develop and implement management plans to
prevent contamination of surface and groundwater in
fields, orchards and nurseries. More than 2,000
producers have voluntarily reviewed their pesticide,
fertilizer, water use and conservation management
practices.
Abandoned wells are a direct pipeline to groundwater
sources and pose a health and safety risk. Identifying
abandoned wells and financial assistance through the
MGSP has resulted in closure of nearly 8,000 wells.
The program has encouraged well owners to test their
wells for nitrogen and triazine pesticides. Approximately
10,000 well water samples have been screened at no charge
to well owners in Northwest Michigan.
The Groundwater Program pays for the disposal of
unused and unwanted pesticides following local collections
in Clean Sweep or Hazardous Materials/Clean Sweep
Programs. More than 1.6 million pounds of chemicals have
been removed from storage barns, basements, sheds, and
other risky locations and properly disposed of.
Farmers have participated in delivering over 700,000
pounds of rinsed containers to the Groundwater/Michigan
Association of Business Association’s agri-chemical
container recycling program. Recycling minimizes the risk
of pesticides from improperly rinsed and stored ‘empty’
containers entering ground or surface water.
MGSP partners include conservation districts, the
Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA), Michigan
State University Extension (MSUE), and the Natural
Resources Conservation Service.
Locally, Dan Busby of the Grand Traverse
Conservation District provides risk assessments, emergency
planning, drift management plans and other assistance to
farmers in Benzie, Leelanau, Grand Traverse and Antrim
counties.
Roberta Dow, MSUE district water quality educator,
develops training and educational materials, trains MGSP
staff members and conducts programs in northern Michigan
and the U.P.
Jim Pawlowicz, a field staff member with the MDA
Environmental Stewardship Division, assists and monitors
the grant groups, and conducts on-site water monitoring.
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion,
age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thomas G. Coon, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names
does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.
MSU Extension offers a FRESH
resource for Grand Traverse County
The MSU Extension Family Nutrition Program
(FNP)once again offered Project FRESH (Farm
Resources Expanding and Supporting Health) and
Senior Project FRESH to low-income families and
senior citizens throughout the summer growing
season.
Participants, who must meet eligibility
requirements, include families who qualify for food
stamps and seniors at 185 percent of the poverty
level.
Through Project FRESH, residents take part in
nutrition education classes focused on the benefits
of consuming fresh fruit and vegetables. They learn
to select, cook and store the produce, and receive
coupons that they can redeem at participating
farmers’ markets and farm stands.
This summer, MSU Extension FNP staff:
 Offered 26 classes at the MSU Extension office
 Provided two classes at an area farm
 Educated 367 WIC clients in one class
 Offered Senior Project FRESH to 256 seniors in
Grand Traverse County
 Gave these seniors 472 coupon books
 Partnered with Love for Children volunteers who
provided daycare during classes for 81 families
with 180 children.
Though actual return rates will not be known for
several months, more than $25,000 has already been
reimbursed to area farmers through MSU Extension
in Grand Traverse County.
Free water screening offered to area
residents
The Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program
offers free well water screening for triazine
pesticides, nitrates and nitrites during Ag Expo,
MSU’s outdoor farm show that’s held on the East
Lansing campus every July.
Roberta Dow, district water quality educator,
promoted the opportunity to northwest Michigan and
the Eastern U.P. homeowners and collected the
samples for delivery to MSU.
MSU Extension offices in 12 counties received
976 samples. This made up 34 percent of the samples
from the entire state that were tested this year. It takes
a truck to deliver that many ice-packed water samples
to the Michigan Department of Agriculture’s Geagley
Water Testing Laboratory in East Lansing.
This year Leelanau County residents submitted the
second-highest number of samples (141), Grand
Traverse the fifth-highest number (141) and Benzie
County had the sixth-highest (132).
One Chippewa County sample contained triazine
pesticide. Eight wells out of 976 had nitrates above the
drinking water standard (10 parts per million), which
indicates that drinking this water by certain segments
of the population is risky.
Seventy five samples from the 12 counties were
between 5 and 10 ppm and bear continued interest by
the well owners. One Emmet County well tested
positive for nitrite, which suggests recent
contamination.
Since these samples are not randomly taken, one
cannot say anything about water quality in the various
counties, except that not all water is potable and
everyone should test their well water annually.
The value of the well water tests that were
provided by the Michigan Groundwater Stewardship
Program, with partnership from MSU Extension, was
about $29,000. The value in Grand Traverse and
Leelanau counties alone was nearly $9,500.
Fuel storage bulletin helps farmers
meet regulations, protect groundwater
On-farm fuel storage carries one of the highest
risks to groundwater resources. To help growers
protect their water and comply with regulatory
standards, MSU Extension provides a bulletin called
“On-farm Fuel Storage” (item number WQ 59).
The bulletin was written by Roberta Dow, MSU
Extension northern district water quality educator.
The Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program
recently provided support to revise and reprint this
bulletin, which is available for free from any MSU
Extension office or online at
www.emdc.msue.msu.edu.
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion,
age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thomas G. Coon, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names
does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion,
age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thomas G. Coon, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names
does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.