Water Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000: Water Code (Jersey) 2009: Amendment

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A decision made 27 September 2012:

Department of the Environment

Ministerial Decision

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2012-0104
Decision Summary Title :	Water Code (Jersey) 2009		Date of Decision Summary:	20th September 2012
Decision Summary Author:	Rural Team Manager		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :	Amendment to the ‘closed period’ dates for the application of slurry to agricultural land.		Date of Written Report:	20th September 2012
Written Report Author:	John Jackson		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject:- The Water Code (Jersey) 2009, which is an approved Code under the Water Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000, sets the closed period dates for the application of slurry to agricultural land in order to safeguard controlled waters in Jersey. The exceptional wet summer of 2012 has led to dairy farmers being unable to empty their storage tanks in time for the closed period which is due to start on the 1st October. The amended dates for the closed period will be from 25th October to 24th January each year.
Decision(s): The Minister to approve the amended dates in the Water Code (Jersey) 2009.
Reason(s) for Decision - : The dairy industry have requested an amendment to the ‘closed period’ for the application of slurry to agricultural land to take account of the very wet weather experienced in 2012 which has caused difficulty in emptying stores by the 1st October and the mild weather conditions over the last few years which has the extended the growing period in the island. The original ‘closed period’ dates in the Water Code were from the 1st October to 31st December (3 month period) with the proposed dates being form 25th October to 24th January (3 months). This decision will not alter the ‘closed period’ for the application of inorganic fertilisers to agricultural land which will remain from 1st October to 31st December each year.
Resource Implications: None
Action required: Approval of the Minister to amend the 3 month closed period for the application of slurry to agricultural land identified in the Water Code (Jersey) 2009 to 25th October to 24th January each year.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Water Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000: Water Code (Jersey) 2009: Amendment

Department of the Environment

Amendments to the Water Code (Jersey) 2009 to alter the ‘closed period’ dates for the application of slurry to agricultural land.

Purpose of the report

To amend the 3 month closed period for the application of slurry to agricultural land from the 1st October to 31st December to the 25th October to 24th January each year.

Background

The Water Code (Jersey) 2009 is an approved Code under the Water Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000 designed to ensure the agricultural industry follows good agricultural practice in relation to the protection of the islands controlled waters.

The dairy industry reluctantly agreed to the original ‘closed period’ dates published in the Code in 2009 when they expressed the view that October would usually, in the Jersey context, be more suitable for spreading slurry rather than January when soil conditions would be adverse.

The wet weather during the summer of 2012 has not enabled diary farms to empty their slurry stores and have therefore requested that the Water Code ‘closed period’ dates be amended to allow them to take advantage of the better soil conditions this October. It is the industries intention to ask for these later dates to be included when the Water Code comes up for renewal in March 2014.

Discussion

The Water Code (Jersey) 2009, which is an approved Code under the Water Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000, sets the closed period dates for the application of slurry to agricultural land in order to safeguard controlled waters in Jersey. The exceptional wet summer of 2012 has led to dairy farmers being unable to empty their storage tanks in time for the closed period which is due to start on the 1st October. The mild weather and firmer soil conditions experienced in October are more favourable for spreading slurry than the adverse conditions in early January because plant growth will take up the nutrients applied because of the extended growing season and in addition machinery will do less damage to soil structure.

The amended dates for the closed period are requested to be from 25th October to 24th January each year. This decision will not alter the ‘closed period’ for the application of inorganic fertilisers to agricultural land which will remain from 1st October to 31st December each year.

Recommendation

The Minister agrees that the Water Code (Jersey) 2009 is amended to include dates for the ‘closed period’ for the application slurry to agricultural land from 25th October to 24th January each year.

Written by:- The Rural Economy Manger

Approved by:- Director of Environment