LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Critics say the method used to gauge how much fertilizer Arkansas farmers can apply to their crops doesn’t factor the potential of manure leaching underground and leaves the state’s waterways inadequately protected.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that farmers use the Arkansas Phosphorus Index to calculate the potential of phosphorous runoff during a rain storm and to determine where to disperse animal waste.
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality notes that manure can be applied only on land deemed to have a “low” or “medium” risk of runoff.
Critics say the karst terrain around the Buffalo River is a prime example of the index inadequately accounting for all of the ways phosphorus creeps into waterways.
Karst areas often feature cracks, fissures and sinkholes that allow substances to trickle down and move underground.
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