Cattlemen learn water testing technique

Local cattlemen are looking at their water to find out how their operations impact their land.

More than a dozen and a half gathered on the bank of the Palouse River beneath a railroad bridge in Colfax Monday morning to learn proper techniques for sampling their water for fecal coliform content.

Tom Kammerzell, who organized the event for the Whitman County Cattlemen’s Association, said he began a regular regimen of testing a creek that runs through his property two and a half years ago after ecology officials “blamed” high fecal coliform levels in the South Fork Palouse River on “a guy that raised hairy cattle just outside of town.”

The class was conducted by Simon Smith, a water quality researcher with his firm WorldThree out of Spokane. Smith walked the cattle producers through proper testing techniques.

He said it’s important farmers test regularly and document everything they do in collecting samples.

Kammerzell pulls samples out of Spring Flat Creek, both its upstream entrance to his property and its downstream exit. He also records conditions on the day of the sample, if wildlife was in the area, what the temperature was and any other factors that may play a role.

“Then you go back and start looking at those tests, and it will start to tell you a pretty interesting story,” Kammerzell told cattlemen Monday morning.

Samples are tested at labs in Moscow or Spokane. They run about $25 to $45 a test, said Smith. Multiple samples can be tested at discounted rates.

Cattlemen suggested the possibility of pooling their samples for discounted rates.

Steve Van Vleet, WSU’s Whitman County extension specialist, said the data could also be used to display how producers’ operations impact the quality of water on their property.

“This could provide real information on how their operations are affecting water quality,” said Van Vleet. “So we have that data instead of just assuming what a problem might be.”

If the data shows cattle are not negatively impacting water quality, environmental regulators can begin to investigate other potential sources of pollution, he said.

Smith said, while having information to present in defense to state regulators is important, the real value to landowners in sampling water on their property lies in knowing how healthy their land is for their animals and for downstream neighbors.

The testing class was spearheaded by area conservation districts and the Whitman County Cattlemen’s Association, the county Farm Bureau and the county Association of Wheat Growers.