Michigan Water Stewardship Program
What is the Michigan Water Stewardship Program?
The Michigan Water Stewardship Program (MWSP) is designed to help you reduce pesticide and nitrogen fertilizer risks to ground and surface around your farm and home. The Michigan Water Stewardship Program brings together the resources of state, federal, local and private groups in an effort to protect the state's water resources. The program is funded through fees that are assessed on pesticides and nitrogen fertilizers.
- Learn more about the Residential MWSP
- Learn more about the Agricultural MWSP, Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP
Why Protect Groundwater?
Half of Michigan's residents rely on ground water for their drinking water. Groundwater also recharges our surface waters, which are used for drinking, as well as habitat for fish and other creatures in rivers, streams and lakes. Preventing groundwater contamination is necessary to sustain our health and quality of life here in the Great Lakes State.
How does the Program Help to Protect Ground and Surface Water?
The MWSP helps individuals protect ground and surface water through a mix of the following elements:
- Information/education - raises awareness of activities which may pose a risk to water resources
- Technical assistance - helps individuals implement practices to reduce those risks to ground and surface water
- Research/demonstration - identifies potential ground and surface water problems and solutions to those problems
Local water stewardship teams work together to ensure that the mix of these elements meets local needs and interest. Local teams may include farmers, commodity groups, agribusiness, health department personnel, citizens and others. The teams also provide a collective voice for pesticide and nitrogen fertilizer users in determining the direction of the statewide program.
MWSP Stewardship Practices
A number of stewardship practices are available which will help to reduce the risk of ground and surface water contamination, including:
- equipment calibration
- pre-sidedress nitrate testing
- nutrient management
- well decommissioning
- healthy lawn and garden practices
MWSP Educational Materials
Farm*A*Syst is a series of fact sheets and worksheets used to evaluate risks in and around the farmstead. All assessment materials remain on the farm, so they are completely confidential. Farmers who complete a Farm*A*Syst on-site with a trained water technician, are eligible to obtain up to six pesticide re-certification credits, as well as other technical assistance and cost-share opportunities. Field*A*Syst is an expansion of Farm*A*Syst materials designed to address risks associated with the field application of pesticides and nitrogen fertilizers.
Other Programs
Turfgrass
The MWSP also partners with the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program, an industry-led program which uses voluntary self-assessment tools to help golf courses reduce environmental risks, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat.
Clean Sweep
Many of us have unused or unusable pesticides stored on our property. Clean Sweep helps eliminate these risks. Individuals can bring unwanted pesticides to one of Michigan's Clean Sweep sites for proper disposal at little or no cost to the landowner. The MWSP. along with the Environmental Protection Agency and local agencies, pays for the disposal of these pesticides.
Container Recycling
MWSP teamed up with the Grower Service Corporation to introduce the Container Recycling program. Each year thousands of plastic pesticide containers are collected, ground up for easy handling and recycled. A list of locations accepting containers for recycling can be found under "Groundwater Protection Practices" in the "Conservation Begins with You" section of this web site.
Spill Response Program
This program helps reduce environmental impacts associated with pesticide, fertilizer and manure spills. If a spill occurs, agri-chemical users call the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development 24-hour hotline (1-800-405-0101). This gives access to information, technical assistance, and in some cases financial assistance for dealing with the control, containment and cleanup of a spill. MWSP provides funding for this program.
Michigan Emergency Tube
The Michigan Emergency Tube project helps farmers be prepared for an emergency and protects local emergency crews. A farm emergency plan is developed, placed in a weather-resistant tube, and located outside where it can be accessed by emergency crews. This is an expansion of the MGSP's Farm*A*Syst section on emergency preparedness which helps farmers meet legal requirements such as SARA Title III.
Groundwater Monitoring
This program is designed to determine the nature and extent of pesticide and nitrogen fertilizer contamination in Michigan's groundwater. This is done to reduce the potential for negative health impacts, and to improve MWSP understanding of risks to groundwater associated with different
Other Resources
For more information, visit the following web sites:
- Huron River Watershed Council
- Washtenaw County Environmental Health Department
- Institute of Water Research, Michigan State University
- Groundwater Guardian, The Groundwater Foundation