A 15-member panel, the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Authority, also established by the act, representing farmers and loggers, environmental groups, agriculture and forestry agencies, commodity groups, and industries, then examined water quality data and evaluated management practices. The Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Authority developed a manual of best management practices to be used by all state agencies. A special category was also created for stream protection management. Kentucky farmers and loggers must develop and implement a management plan based on this selection of BMPs. A producer's notebook that accompanies the manual provides a series of questions to help them make appropriate selections among the practices.
Producers have five years to implement their management plans.
This schedule ensures that education and technical and financial assistance will precede the statutory requirements statewide. After that, enforcement will rely primarily on complaints or documented water quality problems. If documented water quality problems are occurring because of agricultural operations, these operations will be reviewed and if they have not implemented all appropriate BMPs, they will be given another opportunity to do so.