Effectiveness of local regulations on non-point source pollution: Evidence from Wisconsin dairy farms
Presented by:
Marin Skidmore
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
12:00 pm-1:30 pm
Taylor-Hibbard Seminar Room (Rm103)
Online - https://go.wisc.edu/esfdvx
While the Clean Water Act’s regulation of point source pollution has had a significant effect on water quality, non-point sources of pollution, especially animal agriculture in the US, remain a leading source of water pollution. This work studies the effectiveness of local manure management regulations on dairy farms in Wisconsin. Wisconsin represents an important location to study non-point agricultural pollution due to the economic importance of both small, non-point, dairy farms and a tourism industry based on clean water. Using bespoke hand-collected regulatory data from Wisconsin counties we are able to estimate the effects of changes in local regulations on water quality outcomes. The results demonstrate that easily implemented and verifiable regulations such as nutrient management plans and certificates of use for storage facilities have significant short-term effects on water quality, while other less observable and difficult to implement regulations have no discernible effects in the short term. The work points to a number of potential policy levers to improve the management of non-point pollution in the dairy industry, as well as the challenges to measuring impacts of non-point source policies that work through slow-moving hydrologic processes.
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