Prairie Dog Extermination
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Last modified at 2:32 a.m. on Wednesday, June 12, 2002
© 2002 - The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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Prairie dogs could be killed in a plan to drastically thin the
population at the city's wastewater application farm.
Rebecca Breyer t Avalanche-JOURNAL
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Prairie dogs blamed for violation
BY JOHN FUQUAY
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Lubbock's booming prairie dog population has earned the city a violation at its
wastewater application farm, a state environmental inspector said Tuesday.
The city has already sought bids for a prairie dog eradication plan that likely
will involve poisoning the animals, which are often seen as a symbol of the
Great Plains and sell for $100 apiece in local pet stores.
An inspector with the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission cited the
city last week after determining that over-grazing and burrowing by prairie dogs
was threatening to contaminate soil and groundwater.
"What we don't want is water percolating far down below the root zone of the
crops," TNRCC inspector Pat Cooke said. "If they're no crops, then there's no
root uptake."
The city received notice of its violation last week following Cooke's annual
inspection.
John Hindman, land application manager at the farm, said the city has been
fighting the prairie dog population at the site for two years. He said the
prairie dogs are too numerous to count and estimates their population to be in
the thousands.
"It's got to the point now where it's getting serious," he said. "We've got to
do something."
The city received bids last month for controlling 80 percent of the prairie dog
population. After the bids are reviewed by the city staff, the City
Council is to award a contract. Hindman said he did not know when the bids
will be presented to the council.
Cooke said the city has until Aug. 6 to submit a plan to resolve the violation.
The most common method to control prairie dogs is by grain, pellet or chemical
poison. Poisoning is legal and often used by farmers and ranchers.
A city official said grain poison will not be used by the city for fear of
killing geese that graze on the same land.
Under regulations, poison also cannot endanger predators, which could eat
poisoned prairie dogs, or threaten burrowing owls, which are protected under
federal law and live in abandoned prairie dog burrows.
Hindman said poisoning prairie dogs costs from $30 to $50 an acre.
The city applies treated sewage effluent daily on about 750 acres of pastureland
east of Loop 289. One area, southwest of Buffalo Springs Road, has become so
heavily grazed by prairie dogs that pivot sprinklers are spraying effluent on
bare dirt.
The effluent is municipal sewer water that has been treated to remove most
biocontaminants but still contains nitrate. Under a permit with the TNRCC, the
city applies the effluent on grassy areas to absorb and dissolve the nitrate.
Without sufficient vegetation, nitrate levels could become too high.
The city violated regulatory standards at the site in the late 1980s when
nitrate levels rose and contaminated groundwater. The city was ordered to
remediate the contamination, and, in some cases, provide bottled water to
residents who depended on the groundwater.
"There's already a history out there," Cooke said. "We're in groundwater
remediation now, and we want the city to maintain healthy crops out there."
In addition to effluent being absorbed into bare ground, Cooke said prairie dog
burrows are so prevalent that effluent is being sprayed directly into burrows,
which can extend more than 4 feet below the surface.
The water table in the area is 50 to 90 feet below the surface.
Wildlife conservationists have criticized the city's plans to kill prairie dogs.
They contend that prairie dog habitat is a vital part of the prairie ecosystem
and should be carefully managed to avoid disrupting other species.
Prairie dogs are being monitored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and agencies in other states have been
charged with devising a plan to stabilize or increase the prairie dog's
population. Prairie dogs now inhabit about 1 percent of their original
range.
Hindman said a trapper removed between 400-500 prairie dog pups earlier this
year to be sold in pet shops. He said trapping has been used for several
years but has failed to curb the population's growth.
Prairie dogs live in clusters of burrows called colonies or towns that can
include thousands of members.
"We're trying to be good stewards," Hindman said. "We have to be careful of the
burrowing owls, and we're aware there's a lot of public support for prairie
dogs. We're kind of doing a balancing act."
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Updated 19 July 2006 .