Updated Dairy Farm Water Use Calculator Available from PRO-DAIRY

2015 Water Use Reporting Deadline to NYS DEC:
March 31, 2016

New this year
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has released a new water use form for reporting this year, which can be downloaded from PRO-DAIRY’s manure management website or from DEC's website.

In previous years, the form could be automatically completed by the calculator, however due to the new DEC form, users will have to transfer values from the calculator to the new DEC form manually. Once the form is completed it can then be submitted electronically or printed and returned to NYSDEC by US mail. Farms should discuss business confidentiality issues with their legal advisors.

Background
On August 15th, 2011, Governor Cuomo signed a law that updates water use reporting and permit requirements for users of large volumes of water in New York State. NYSDEC indicates that the reporting of water usage provides them with needed information to manage the state’s water resources. The law has a provision that waives reporting fees for agricultural users. It also exempts some agricultural water users from reporting and clarifies obligations for other farms.

Water use on a dairy farm depends on many factors, most notably: number of animals, level of milk production, size of milking center and other areas cleaned with fresh water, use of a milk pre-cooler and/or summer cooling of cows (sprinklers), and for some cases, irrigation of crops.

For farms with multiple sites, generally locations that are contiguous or that share water supplies should aggregate water use for reporting purposes, while non-contiguous sites should estimate water use separately. Farms solely on public water supplies are NOT required to register because their water use will be reported by the municipal water provider.

Because it can be difficult to accurately estimate water use for many dairy operations, the PRO-DAIRY Environmental Systems Group developed this calculator for use by farmers and their advisors. The calculator has been reviewed and approved for use by NYSDEC. The calculator can be used to estimate a farmstead’s water use (barns, milking center, etc.) and also has provisions for entering in other uses of water on the farm such as crop irrigation. Based on inputs by the user, the calculator estimates the average daily water use for each month. While the estimating formulas were developed for Holstein water consumption, Jersey cow water consumption is close enough that the overall calculation of water usage should not be significantly affected.

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Agricultural water users withdrawing an average of 100,000 gallons or more of water per day in any month during the previous year (2015) from any combination of groundwater and surface freshwater sources are required to register their water withdrawals with NYSDEC. All other farms using freshwater for agricultural purposes at a monthly average rate of less than 100,000 gallons of water per day for all months are exempt from reporting.

Questions?

Questions regarding the DEC reporting form may be directed to Mr. Richard Kruzansky, NYSDEC rhkruzan@gw.dec.state.ny.us or 518-402-8182).

General questions on water use reporting may be directed to PRO-DAIRY’s Karl Czymmek (kjc12@cornell.edu or 607-592-2634) or Curt Gooch  (cag26@cornell.edu or 607-255-2088).

Technical questions on using this water use calculator may be directed to PRO-DAIRY’s Tim Shelford (tjs47@cornell.edu).

Julie Berry, Editor | Tom Overton, Director | Facebook