Abstract

Water use is essential for all dairies. Drinking water is indispensable for cattlelife; some amount of water is necessary for cleaning and sanitation procedures; moderate amounts are important during periods of heat stress for evaporative cooling of cows to improve animal production and health; additional amounts can be used in labor-saving methods to move manure and clean barns by flushing in properly designed facilities; and the recovered wastewater can be recycled to supplement water requirements of forage crops grown to meet roughage requirements of the dairy herd. Extensive water use, however, increases the potential of surface runoff and its penetration into the ground with possible environmental impacts offsite. Heightened environmental concerns and the need for resource conservation, in many cases, have caused implementation of water-use permits. Thus, it is important to determine various essential uses of water, other uses that are important to management, and also consider whether reuse of some water is possible and if it is necessary to do so.