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Governor Parson signs water runoff measure

Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed a measure Friday exempting farm stormwater runoff from permit requirements under Missouri’s clean water law.  The legislation is important because even though farmers try to prevent runoff, huge rain events sometimes make that impossible, according to Casey Wasser, policy director for the Missouri Soybean Association.

“This is going to provide certainty,” Wasser told Brownfield Ag News.  “It puts the burden on the Department [of Natural Resources], not the farmer, to prove whether or not pollution occurred.”

The bill has broad support from Missouri agriculture organizations.  The issue surfaced when, after a heavy rain, a Missouri cattleman was accused of violating the law, said Mike Deering, executive vice-president of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association.

“We wanted to make sure that doesn’t happen to any other producers,” Deering told Brownfield, “and that you’re not going to get accused of breaking the law because your pasture is flooded.”

The bill includes a provision that common farm stormwater runoff will not be cited as unlawful water pollution unless it’s proven harmful to public health, animals or fish.
Photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s office