TWIN FALLS - As controversy intensifies over confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, every Magic Valley county but two brought new cows into the valley in 2006.

Dairymen say there is still room for growth here, where cows outnumber people by a ratio of about 7-to-1. But a long-growing anti-CAFO movement, largely championed by property owners adjacent to existing or proposed CAFOs, set the stage last year for showdowns in several of Magic Valley's most CAFO-friendly counties.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, CAFOs are point sources for pollution because animals are contained in small areas where waste and wastewater have the potential to pollute otherwise clean land and waterways. CAFO permits - part of a larger program called the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System - are required for ag operations that confine large numbers of cows, horses, sheep, chickens, turkeys or ducks.

In the Magic Valley, CAFO permits are issued mostly for dairy operations.

"There is definitely room for (dairy) growth in the Magic Valley," said Bob Naerebout, president of the Idaho Dairymen's Association. "If there's an issue of cow density, it's because people are concerned about phosphorus."

Several Magic Valley counties have elevated phosphorus levels in their soil. Phosphorus is a contaminant linked to dairies.

Concerns that dairies pollute land and waterways prompted Gooding County last month to implement a 182-day moratorium on CAFO permit applications. At the moratorium hearing, planning and zoning administrator Judy Davis presented a report to commissioners that warned against the dangers of uncontrolled dairy growth. The report contained information about high phosphorus and nitrate levels in Gooding County soil.

It's not a new issue there, where commissioners passed a 120-day moratorium in March 2005.

Gooding County planning and zoning is drafting a more stringent CAFO ordinance that is expected to be presented to commissioners soon.

Cassia County implemented a 90-day moratorium in August amid concerns that too many dairies were coming into the county.

In Jerome County, several property owners, along with the director of the Minidoka Internment National Monument, have pleaded with commissioners to stop a proposed CAFO just over a mile from that historical site. That CAFO hearing is scheduled for next month.

According to information supplied to the Times-News by county officials in all but one Magic Valley county,Cassia County granted the most CAFO applications in 2006. Those applications included several for new dairies as well as permits to expand existing dairies.

Jerome County could not say how many applications it received in 2006 - or how many applications were approved - even after the Times-News filed public-information requests. The county's CAFO files are not up to date, said employees in the planning and zoning office after a reporter asked in person to see the files. Not all applications have been converted from paper format to computer-accessible electronic files. Also, because some dairy operations in the county have changed owners, the paper files may contain duplicate information. An incomplete index is all the county could offer.

Only Blaine and Camas counties did not approve CAFO applications in 2006. Neither county received a CAFO application last year.

According to data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Gooding County has more cows than any other Idaho county: 246,500. That's about 337 cows per square mile. Based on U.S. Census Bureau figures, cows outnumber people in that county by a ratio of about 17-to-1.

There are about 280 cows per square mile in Jerome County, which has the third-highest cow population among Magic Valley counties.

Every county operates under a different CAFO ordinance - some more stringent than others. That explains why counties such as Cassia County, which had eight permit applications last year, had significantly more applications than counties with stricter ordinances, Naerebout said. However, ordinances in every county contain provisions about CAFO zoning, environmental-protection clauses and rules about waste-removal.

Dairies must apply for CAFO permits before they can open. In some counties, planning and zoning boards approve or deny the applications, and in other counties commissioners have the final say.

Dairymen also must apply for CAFO permits before expanding their operations. Idaho produces more milk than 45 other states, despite having about 50 fewer dairies than last year. Expansions probably maintained Idaho's place as a top milk producer again in 2006.

Times-News staff writer Matt Christensen covers natural resources. Contact him at 735-3243 or at matt.christensen@lee.net.