Evaluating the Effects of Conservation Practices on Water Quality
Abstract: The study is designed to evaluate whether adoption of several agricultural best management practices have had a measurable impact on phosphorus loadings into the Little Bear River. A review of historical ambient water quality data suggests an aggregate decline in phosphorus loadings in the Little Bear River watershed. The use of fine-grained data from throughout this watershed will enable the determination of whether these changes are related to the implementation of management practices.
The core research objectives to be addressed by this project include:
>> To determine whether publicly funded programs to promote the adoption of agricultural conservation best management practices were able to reduce phosphorus loadings into surface waters in the Little Bear watershed
>> To critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of different water quality monitoring techniques, and
>> To make recommendations to policymakers, agricultural conservation field staff, and other interested parties to ensure that future management efforts are targeted towards the most effective and socioeconomically viable agricultural best management practices.
The results of this work will help future agricultural conservation programs focus on the most effective practices, and can be used to develop new protocols to increase the efficiency of water quality monitoring efforts.
Representative presentations:
>> Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring for Investigating the Strengths and Weaknesses of Existing Monitoring Techniques: Little Bear River Basin. Water Environment Association of Utah, March 2006. Presenter: Jeff Horsburgh. Co-authors: David K. Stevens, DarwinSorensen, Nancy Mesner, Douglas Jackson-Smith, Ron Ryel
>> Investigation of the Changes in Water Quality in the Little Bear River Watershed in Response to the Implementation of Best Management Practices. Water Environment Association of Utah. March 2006. Presenter: David K. Stevens. Co-authors: Nancy O. Mesner, Doug Jackson-Smith, Darwin L. Sorensen, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Ron Ryel, Lorien Belton, Michael Halling, Joon Hee Lee
>> Evaluation of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Water Quality Monitoring Techniques. USDA-CSREES National Water Conference. Jan 28-Feb 1, 2007. Savannah, GA. Presenter: Nancy Mesner. Co-authors: Jeff Horsburgh, David Stevens, Darwin Sorenson, Ron Ryel, Douglas Jackson-Smith.
>> Integrating Social Science Methods into an Assessment of Conservation Programs. USDA-CSREES National Water Conference. Jan 28-Feb 1, 2007. Savannah, GA. Presenter: Douglas Jackson-Smith. Co-authors: L. Belton, M. Halling, J. Horsburgh, N. Mesner, D. Stevens, D. Sorensen. R. Ryel, M. Allred, J. Hardman.
>> CSREES Conservation Effectiveness Assessment Project for the Little Bear River Basin. July 2007 update to the Bear River Water Quality Task Force.
>> Implementation and maintenance of Water Quality BMPs: A Sociological Study of Cooperator Behavior in the Little Bear River Watershed. Bear River Symposium and Annual Utah NPS Conference, September 2007, Logan, UtahDouglas Jackson-Smith, Michael Halling, Ernesato de la Hoz, Lorien Belton, Jamie McEvoy.
>> Designing Montioring Programs to Evaluate BMP Effectiveness. USDA-CSREES National Water Conference. February 2008, Reno, NV. Presenter: Nancy Mesner. Co-Authors: Ginger Paige, David Stevens, Jeff Horsburh, Douglas Jackson-Smith, Darwin Sorensen, Ron Ryel.
>> Presentation to Utah Division of Water Quality on Developing Monitoring Programs to detect NPS load reductions. Nancy Mesner. May 2007.
>> Assessing the Spatial Distribution of Agricultural Conservation Practices Implemented Along a Northern Utah Watershed: Did Practices Target Critical Areas? . USDA-CSREES National Water Conference. February 2008, Reno, NV Ernesto A. de la Hoz, Douglas Jackson-Smith, Jeff Horsburgh
>> Assesssing the Long-Term Impacts of Water Quality Outreach and Education on Landowners. USDA-CSREES National Water Conference. February 2008, Reno, NV . Jamie McEvoy, Douglas Jackson-Smith, Nancy Mesner, Ernesto de la Hoz, Michael Halling, Steve Huckett.
Representative posters:
March 2006 Poster, describing project and results of initial analyses
>> jpeg of poster page 1
>> jpeg of poster page 2
>> pdf of poster (reformatted)
Maps:
Hydrology maps_1
Hydrology maps_2
Miscellaneous maps
Exploratory Data analyses:
April 2005 analyses
>> Annual Box Plots
>> Correlation Plots
>> Data Distribution Graphs
>> Monthly Box and Whisker Plots
>> Seasonal Box and Whisker Plots
>> Station Locations
>> Statistical Summary Tables
>> Time Series Plots
May 2005 Analyses
>> Base Flow Separation Analysis
>> Seasonal Load Analysis
>> Seasonality of Total and Dissolved Phosphorus
>> Stream Concentration Profile Analysis
>> Stream Load Profile Analysis
Final Reports (Fact Sheets) from Original Little Bear HUA Project
>> Little Bear Overview
>> Riparian Corridor work
>> Grazing
>> Manure Management
>> I&E Efforts
>> Summary
May 13-14 Synthesis Site Visit Presentations
>> Mesner - Introduction to project
>> Jackson-Smith - Socioeconomic components of project
>> McEvoy - Outreach and education
>> Jackson-Smith - Human factors in project area
>> Jackson-Smith - Implementation and Maintenance of BMPs
>> Jackson-Smith - Spatial distribution of BMPs
>> Ryel - WQ Trends in Historic Data
>> Sorensen - Cluster analysis and macroinvertebrates
>> Mesner - Spatial and temporal variability
>> Horsburgh - Instrumentation and continuous monitoring
>> Jackson-Smith - Changes in streambank / channel conditions
>> Nielson - WQ Modeling using TOP Model
>> Stevens - Bayesian Network Analyses
| Links: |
Little Bear River WATERS Test Bed Project |