Improving conservation practices programming to protect water quality in agricultural watersheds: Lessons learned from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture-Conservation Effects Assessment Project

Osmond, Deanna L.; Meals, Don; Hoag, Dana L.; Arabi, Mazdak; Luloff, A. E.; Jennings, Gregory D.; McFarland, Mark L.; Spooner, Jean; Sharpley, Andrew N.; Line, Dan

doi:10.2489/jswc.67.5.122a

Cited by 101 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(2 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

109

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Agricultural conservation and nutrient management programs have been very successful at reducing P losses in runoff at the edge-of-field, but there has often been disappointingly little improvement in downstream water quality and ecology 1 . Growing evidence indicates that a major reason for this is the chronic release of P from 'legacy P' stores, which have accumulated in watersheds and water bodies 2,3,4 . As a result, we face unprecedented challenges in meeting water quality targets, given that P legacies from past land management may continue to impair future water quality, over timescales of decades, and perhaps longer ( Figure 1).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Quality Remediation Faces Unprecedented Challenges from “Legacy Phosphorus”

Jarvie

Sharpley

Spears

et al. 2013

Environ. Sci. Technol.

240

148

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Quality Remediation Faces Unprecedented Challenges from “Legacy Phosphorus”

Jarvie

Sharpley

Spears

et al. 2013

Environ. Sci. Technol.

240

148

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition, event E 12 had extremely high q p and τ = 16, but low θ a and t pa . Based on the characteristics of eight events during three survey periods-P 2 , P 10 , P 14 -when gully erosion was detected, four events were found to be more likely to cause soil erosion than the other events: E 1 and E 2 in P 2 , E 10 in P 10 , and E 12 in P 14 . Event E 12 was the only runoff event in P 14 ; E 10 had the highest τ comparing to other runoff events in P 10 ; E 1 had the highest τ in P 2 , while E 2 exhibited the fully saturated condition prior to the rainfall.…”

Section: Applicability Of the Critical Shear Stress Function To Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After June 2014, the splash pool below the headcut was converted into a channelized part of the gully and started to exhibit the behavior similar to cross-sections CS1 to CS4. The following runoff events caused gully depth fluctuations due to A substantial change in elevation occurred during a sequence of rainfall events in the first half of June in period P 10 . The depth increased by 10 cm on the sides and close to 15 cm in the thalweg area in CS 1 .…”

Section: Elevation Changes Along Ephemeral Gullymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effects of Intra-Storm Soil Moisture and Runoff Characteristics on Ephemeral Gully Development: Evidence from a No-Till Field Study

Karimov

Sheshukov

2017

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ephemeral gully erosion, prevalent on agricultural landscapes of the Great Plains, is recognized as a large source of soil loss and a substantial contributor to the sedimentation of small ponds and large reservoirs. Multi-seasonal field studies can provide needed information on ephemeral gully development and its relationship to physical factors associated with field characteristics, rainfall patterns, runoff hydrograph, and management practices. In this study, an ephemeral gully on a no-till cultivated crop field in central Kansas, U.S., was monitored in 2013 and 2014. Data collection included continuous sub-hourly precipitation, soil moisture, soil temperature, and 15 field surveys of cross-sectional profiles in the headcut and channelized parts of the gully. Rainfall excess from a contributing catchment was calculated with the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model for all storm events and validated on channel flow measurements. Twelve significant runoff events with hydraulic shear stresses higher than the critical value were identified to potentially cause soil erosion in three out of fourteen survey periods. Analysis of shear stress imposed by peak channel flow on soil surface, antecedent soil moisture condition, and channel shape at individual events provided the basis on which to extend the definition of the critical shear stress function by incorporating the intra-storm changes in soil moisture content. One potential form of this function was suggested and tested with collected data. Similar field studies in other agriculturally-dominated areas and laboratory experiments can develop datasets for a better understanding of the physical mechanisms associated with ephemeral gully progression.

show abstract

“…The USDA-funded Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) sought to detect water quality improvements from conservation actions in over a dozen watersheds across the United States. This large, coordinated effort provides an excellent synthesis of approaches and challenges to assessing conservation effectiveness at the watershed scale (Osmond et al 2012;Tomer and Locke 2011).…”

Section: Best Management Practices At the Watershed Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of beyond-the-field nutrient management practices for agricultural crop systems with subsurface drainage

Kalcic¹,

Crumpton²,

Liu³

et al. 2018

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper reviews the characteristics, benefits, and drawbacks of agricultural ditches and wetlands, as well as strategies for applying agricultural best management practices (BMPs) at the watershed scale for improving water quality. This synthesis focuses on the Great Lakes Region and the Mississippi River Basin in the United States, and specifically crop production systems in watersheds with subsurface drainage. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has developed conservation practice standards for open channels and wetlands, which mitigate nutrient and sediment loading to surface water bodies from agricultural lands. Practices that use agricultural ditches to improve water quality, such as the two-stage ditch, have emerged in the last two decades and are starting to see a greater application in the region. Using wetlands as water treatment systems has a long history in a range of settings and over the past several decades is seeing more widespread application in agriculture. Water quality and watershed models are increasingly used to develop watershed strategies for reducing nutrient exports with agricultural BMPs. Models are also helpful in evaluating combinations of practices from the farm scale to the watershed scale. Application and limitations of several models commonly used in these regions of the United States are discussed. Finally, successful conservation strategies at the watershed scale must consider the human dimensions of watershed management, and we summarize the literature in this region on farmer perceptions and adoption of practices.

show abstract

Improving conservation practices programming to protect water quality in agricultural watersheds: Lessons learned from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture-Conservation Effects Assessment Project

Cited by 101 publications

References 10 publications

Water Quality Remediation Faces Unprecedented Challenges from “Legacy Phosphorus”

Water Quality Remediation Faces Unprecedented Challenges from “Legacy Phosphorus”

Effects of Intra-Storm Soil Moisture and Runoff Characteristics on Ephemeral Gully Development: Evidence from a No-Till Field Study

Assessment of beyond-the-field nutrient management practices for agricultural crop systems with subsurface drainage

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About