Livestock-Influenced Water Quality Risk Assessment Tool

This article describes a livestock-influenced water quality risk assessment tool that was developed to assist livestock producers with conducting a self-assessment of their operation and management relative to a facility's risk of negatively affecting water quality. The tool focuses on factors likely to influence designation of the operation as a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation by a permitting authority and was also designed to be used in cooperation with a technical service provider to make a site-specific assessment. The tool is available in paper format and an interactive Microsoft ExcelTM spreadsheet version.