ARLINGTON — Vernon Beach’s cattle no longer have to go to the creek to drink.
The sun brings their water to them.
Beach’s cattle farm in Arlington is using a solar-powered pump system designed to keep farm animals, and their waste, away from streams and salmon habitat.
The system was paid for with part of a $7,600 federal grant administered by the Snohomish Conservation District, a Lake Stevens-based organization that helps farmers with environmentally sound management practices.
One more pump system is still available to be loaned out under the same grant for a farmer with livestock with access to streams.
Officials approached Beach because he had 50 cattle that were drinking from Eagle Creek. The city of Arlington was acquainted with Beach from its work last year to restore a 1,400-foot-long section of the creek near his farm.
Eagle Creek empties into the Stillaguamish River, which has higher-than-normal temperatures, high levels of fecal coliform bacteria and dissolved oxygen, all bad news for spawning salmon, said Bill Blake, environmental manager for the city of Arlington.
Much of the pollution comes from farm animals, pets and septic tanks, Blake said.
The number of coho salmon migrating to their spawning grounds up Eagle Creek recently dwindled to six, he said.
The point of both the stream restoration and the solar pump program “is to try to show compatibility between salmon restoration and agriculture,” Blake said.
This summer, a floating pump was placed in the creek, tethered to the shore with a heavy rope, said Paul Smidansky, an engineer for the Snohomish Conservation District.
The pump is run by a battery similar to those used in recreational vehicles, only more powerful, Smidansky said. The battery is powered by a 1,000-watt solar panel installed on a pole behind a wire fence. The pump sends water through about 100 feet of PVC pipeline installed underground to two, 300-gallon troughs. Fencing is installed about 30 feet from the creek.
Early on, the pipelines clogged, and the piping between the two troughs broke once, Beach said. The cattle apparently stepped on it.
“With cows, they don’t necessarily pay attention to the fact it might be plastic or metal or what,” Beach said.
Those problems were corrected and haven’t popped up since, he said. None of the issues has been related to the solar panel, the battery or the pump, he said.
“The solar panel’s been working fine so far,” even in cool and cloudy weather, Beach said.
Still, he’s reserving judgment on how it will work long-term, such as in cold weather.
“We’re pretty sure it’s going to work, we just need to run it for awhile to see what the glitches might be,” Beach said.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
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