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Environmental Impacts of Production: Water Pollution

Agriculture was acknowledged recently as the major source of the surface water quality impairment in the United States.

The USDA's Economic Research Service in 1994 founded that agriculture contributed to water quality problems in 72% of impaired stretches of river, 56% of lakes and 43% of estuaries (Runge and Stuart 1998; Faeth 1996; USDA 1994).

Pollution from the midwestern agricultural states (where corn is the major crop) contributes to an offshore "dead" zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) investigated the sources of pollutants causing the dead zone. They concluded that 70% of the nitrogen delivered to the Gulf came from above the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers (Alexander et al. 1995). An estimated 90% came from nonpoint sources, primarily agricultural runoff and atmospheric deposition (EPA 2001).

Corn production has had a significant impact on groundwater quality from the agrochemical inputs used in production. The impacts are not well documented. However, half of the U.S. population uses groundwater for its main source of drinking water. It is the sole source for many rural communities.