Irrigation Water Conference
Chris Brunner, February 26, 2014
The Western Center for Food Safety
Invites your participation at the
Western U.S. Irrigation Water Conference
April 24-25, 2014
The Western Center for Food Safety, in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, hosted the Western U.S. Irrigation Water Conference April 24-25. The conference was co-sponsored by the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions about the adoption of the Food and Drug Administration’s implementation of the Produce Safety Rule of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Although the goal for these regulations is to improve the safety of the nation’s produce, the current proposed rules pertaining to water might be contentious among growers and be challenging to implement, especially during a drought cycle.
The goals of the conference:
- To identify key impediments to the widespread adoption of the water quality criteria in the proposed Produce Safety Rule
- To clarify the relationship between ownership of irrigation water and responsibility for meeting microbial water quality standards
- To discuss current natural resource and drinking water policies that are congruent with the Rule
- To determine actionable solutions to the identified impediments of widespread adoption
The format for the conference included a combination of invited speakers, panel talks, and open forum discussions with the audience.
