FSMA defines agricultural water used on produce farms into two main categories: 1) water used during growing of crops (growing/production activities) and 2) water used during harvest, postharvest, and hand washing.
At this point in time FDA is trying to finalize the details and guidance documents on what farms have to do about testing water.
In March the FDA released a statement that they were reviewing the water requirements. Read the FDA’s press release on water review here. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition provides more details on the water standard review here.
On June 6th, 2017 the FDA released an updated public statement saying they intend to extend the deadlines for FSMA water compliance. However, no specific timeline was given. Read the full details here.
At this time CAFF recommends testing your water for generic E.coli at the same frequency you’ve done previously and wait until the FDA releases more specifics on water testing requirements for FSMA before you make any changes.
Updated 6/6/17.