Water is the Connection Media

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(Permission is granted by the photographers for non-commercial use.)

Salmon Leaping by Marksontok

Chinook salmon (juvenile) by Roger Tabor/USFWS

Flame Weeder by Holcomb Farm

Pollinator Hedge by Rowan Steele

Press Release (Download a PDF Here)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 14, 2017

Contact:

Sharon Selvaggio, 541-344-5044 x35, Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides

New Guide Helps Growers Protect Salmon and Steelhead from Pesticides

Cleaner water is possible with alternative approaches to managing pests

Pesticides are the most frequently detected contaminants in the streams of Oregon’s fertile Willamette Valley. The region, an agricultural powerhouse and home to 70% of Oregon’s residents, once saw runs of over a million Pacific salmon and steelhead each year. Water is the Connection, a guide released by Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP), helps growers and other pesticide users understand which pesticides are problematic to salmon and steelhead populations or the insects they need for food. The guide explains how to use alternative approaches or best management practices to keep the pesticides out of the water.

“We all want clean, pure water,” says Sharon Selvaggio, NCAP Healthy Wildlife and Water Program Director. “Growers and irrigation districts highlighted in the guide show how they’ve used alternative approaches for managing insects, weeds and disease. And when pesticides are used, simple actions – like planting trees on the edges of fields or preventing drift – can have a powerful impact on water quality.”

Though the guide is focused on farming in Oregon’s Willamette Basin, the strategies discussed are relevant for protecting water quality for a wide range of crops through the Northwest and beyond.

Water is the Connection and fact sheets for eight pesticides that pose particular risk to salmon and steelhead are free and available at www.pesticide.org/water_is_the_connection. The project was sponsored by the Oregon Pesticide Stewardship Partnership Program.

For more information about NCAP’s efforts to advance alternatives to pesticides, visit www.pesticide.org or call (541) 344-5044.

The Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) works to protect community and environmental health and inspire the use of ecologically sound solutions to reduce the use of pesticides.

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