Water Parcel Tracking to Evaluate Conservation Practice Effectiveness in Agricultural Watersheds.
Abstract
While a wide variety of conservation practice options are available to landowners and conservation professionals, it can be difficult to know where they are most effective because of a disconnect in information between plot-scale studies and monitoring data collected at watershed outlets. In order to fill this knowledge gap, we are employing a Lagrangian sampling technique to monitor a water parcel as it travels down an agricultural ditch network. With this approach, the behavior of small watersheds can be characterized more precisely, and important sites of new inputs and/or transformations can be identified. Our sampling approach is based on a small inflatable kayak that is capable of navigating narrow, shallow agricultural ditches. From the kayak, we deploy a sensor platform consisting of an optical nitrate probe, a multiparameter sonde and a GPS receiver which allows us to generate spatially-resolved maps of critical water parameters through ditch and stream networks. Preliminary results have been helpful for identifying the influence of key micro-watershed tributaries as important sources of nitrate, and assessing wetland influences on mediating nitrate loads. Ongoing efforts are focused on combining Lagrangian sampling with Eulerian monitoring at selected sites in order to identify biogeochemically important hot-spots and hot-moments. Potential applications of this methodology include evaluating the impact of specific aspirational practices on water quality as well as identifying areas and practices of environmental concern within small agricultural watersheds. Lessons learned from this approach can be applied to support of broader efforts aimed at maximizing both ecosystem health and agricultural productivity.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2021
- Bibcode:
- 2021AGUFM.H15V1304D