Rock River: The Effectiveness of Best Management Practices (BMPs)

James Farrell, Victoria Gallogly, Katie Jacob, Shannan Webb, Evgeny Burlyaev

https://mydailycow.wordpress.com/tag/farmer-jokes/

Our Group’s Goal

Analyze data from a 5 year study of BMP implementation in the Rock River Watershed

and offer our insights and recommendations for future action.

Objectives● Investigate BMP literature to make suggestions on present & future

BMPs for the Rock River watershed.○ Potentially better options & allocation of resources

● Re-examine the data and see if it suggests a trend.○ + or - (not saying that we will manipulate the data to find a

trend) ○ Incorporate Rock River discharge into data set

● Develop “back of the envelope” calculation to help gauge BMP effectiveness.

Importance & Relevance● Phosphorus in Lake Champlain.

○ Monetary, recreational, and human costs to dealing with effects.○ Agriculture is a common area considered for improving reduction because of

local landscape.● Champlain Valley is the “banana belt” of Vermont● Implementation of BMPs on agricultural fields are suggested to reduce P-inputs to

surface waters.

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http://www.soea.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lake-champlain-summer.jpg

Site Location

Stream Geomorphic assessment Report by Franklin County VT Revised January 2007

Presentation by Eric Smeltzer

Sample Measurements● Total Phosphorus● Dissolved Phosphorus● Total Suspended Solids

http://www.thermofisher.com.au/show.aspx?page=/ContentAUS/Environmental-Industrial/Environmental-Monitoring-Safety/Water-Monitoring-Treatment/Water-Monitoring-Treatment.html

Additional Background Info● Majority of watershed is a rural area with harvested crop fields and pastures● Silty loam and silty clay soils have low infiltration rate● 90% corn fields and 75% grass fields overlie old tile drainage systems● Narrow channel and little floodplain= little space for water flow and

sediment to be attenuated● Crop fields in floodplain, leads to erosion

Rock River Site Information● Near North Lake with highly erodible soils (HSGD class D) and steep slopes.● Large contributor of phosphorus to Lake Champlain. ● Stations RR14 and RR20 were sampled on 12 dates between April 2008 and April 2009

through Vermont DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation )● FNLC (Friends of Northern Lake Champlain) resumed sampling October 2010.

http://www.northernlakechamplain.org/wp-content/themes/misty-lake/images/logo.png

http://www.evergreenscience.com/images/DEClogo.jpg

Location of Gauges

Upstream gauge called RR20

Downstream Gauge called RR14

● Two gauges, one before (upstream) the BMP area and one after (downstream).

● Drainage area between gauges is 15.1km2

● BMP implemented area was 13.5km2

From presentation by Eric Smeltzer

BMPs Implemented● Farmers implemented BMPs starting in 2010, but currently no indication

that BMPs are reducing phosphorus inputs.○ BMPs included cover cropping and reduced tillage.

● 9/12 farms participated, giving a 75% participation rate and encompassing 64% of the ag land in the area.○ 1 non-participating biggest farm located near stream gauge.○ Small to medium dairy farms & one beef farm.

http://corn.agronomy.wisc.edu/Management/images/L007/till.gifhttp://www.organicagcentre.ca/assets/tcog/tcog_cover_crop_disease.jpg

BMP Implementation by Farm for Rock RiverAll farms implemented 1 or more BMP practice.

Heather Darby Final Report

Predicted possible Soil & P-reductions Predicted soil and total-P loss reductions from BMP

implementation in RR (Darby, 2013)

Heather Darby Final Report

● LaPlatte River● St. Albans Bay

○ BMPs implemented reduced P loads into waterbody, but water quality has not improved significantly

○ Internal cycling of sediments high in P from decades of point and nonpoint sources continue to be transferred

○ Nutrient spiralling

Recurring Issue in Vermont

(Lake Champlain Basin Program). St. Albans Bay still above targeted threshold

What’s the holdup? (Lag Time)● Can take years to see measurable desired improvements from

BMP implementation especially for phosphorus, unlike nitrogen has a long residence time implementation.

● Similar study UK done in experimental watersheds. Decrease in fertilizer application since the 1990’s nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer application has decreased, but phosphorus continues to increase in lowland aquifers.

● After WWII policies actively encouraged intensified use of cheap fertilizers for 50 years.

● With large amounts of fertilizers, average crop recovered no more than 30% of P in a year.

● Many nutrient pathways, study suggests that legacy nutrients contribute to increasing nutrient loads in waterway.

Withers et al., 2015

Importance of Tile Drainage● Originally thought of as a contributor to the impairment of

surrounding surface waters. ● Literature suggests otherwise ● annually tilled systems combined with tile drainage reduce surface

runoff and soil loss● Even larger reductions in no-till systems combined with tile

drainage.● Tile drainage may be used as a BMP when properly combined with

other BMPs.

Soil Loss Reductions And Tile Drainage

Maalim, F. K., and A. M. Melesse. "Modelling the Impacts of Subsurface Drainage on Surface Runoff and Sediment Yield in the Le Sueur Watershed, Minnesota, USA." Hydrological Sciences Journal 58.3 (2013): 570-86. Taylor & Francis Online. Web.

Range of variability from Rao study

-Some practices can actually increase phosphorus runoff!

Roe et al 2009

Simple Ranking from SMART

Goal: maximize P reduction

Equation:=(value-min)/(max-min)x100

Max (100)= highest value based on goalMin (0)=lowest value based on goal.

Option: Buffer, NMP, strip cropping, crop rotation, filter strips, culvert crossing, animal waste management, barnyard management.

NMP= Nutrient Management Plan

Additional Studies on BMP effectiveness

Sharpley, A. et al 2009

SMART Analysis of Additional BMP Effectiveness

How’s the Weather?● BMPs implemented 2010● 2011 winter brought the highest snowfall, and tropical storm

Irene came in summer 2011● Summer 2012 tropical storm Sandy

Stephanie Castle presentation

● Literature reviews show that nutrient management, cover crops and BMPs to protect streams are effective, yet Rock River is not

● Reasons why Rock River is different: ● Shallow bedrock, wet soils, and increasing threat of extreme storms vegetative

buffer strips most effective in decreasing total P. o Vegetative buffers most successful in all wetness indices (for two

possible reasons)o Wetlands suggested by geomorphology study in RR, would allow for

flooding area, slowing and take up of phosphorus● Suggestion by Heather Darby was Grass Waterways (GWW).

Thoughts from the Literature

Recommendations● Focus more on stopping the runoff before it hits the water.

o buffers, grassy waterways and slopes, retention ponds.● Targeting unused unproductive land to implement GWW

Google Images

● Increase number of gauges.o Choosing better

locations to sample (near farms implementing BMPS).

o According to Heather, farmers like this idea.

RecommendationsPresentation by Eric Smeltzer

● Suggested actions from geomorphology report: o buffer restorationo livestock exclusion(done)o maintain tile outletso less constricting bridges and culverts

Recommendations cont.

But How Much Will It Cost?● Costs for

implementing BMPs vary, especially when looking at area.

● This table is for less than 500 acres.

**The cost to develop a nutrient management plan decreases as the acreage in the plan increases. The costs in this table applies to an operation with less than 500 acres. *Accounts for land value

The United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Conservation Service

1. Small pasture-based (60 cows) 2)

2. Medium confinement (150 cows)

3. Large confinement farm (350 cows)

Methods: Farm Level Income and Policy Simulation Modeling System (FLIPSim) and Geographic Information System Phosphorus Loading Model (GISPLM).

More Studies, More Costs

http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/19786/1/sp02pa03.pdf

Possible Funding *Average value of farm real estate is $2,260 per acre in Vermont.*Crop land per acre $7,020 in 2014 in Vermont. *Pasture land per acre $5,790 in 2014 in Vermont.

● Coordinated media campaigns and appeals to farmers to foster support for new alternatives.

● Help from college students, and clubs with installations and possibly share machinery.

● Cooperative for expensive machinery to implement BMPs. ● Offering to rent or buy land from farmers along waterways based on

the lands production value.

Recommendations cont.

AcknowledgmentsWe want to thank Eric Smeltzer for providing us with data to analyze. Heather Darby was an amazing resource as she further explained her findings and also offered a personal view on the issue.

Darby, Heather. "Target Rock: Action Plans and BMP Implementation." Lake Champlain Basin Program Funded Project (2013). Print.

Fiener, P., and K. Auerswald. "Effectiveness Of Grassed Waterways In Reducing Runoff And Sediment Delivery From Agricultural Watersheds." Journal of Environment Quality (2003): 927. PubMed.com. Web. 31 Mar. 2015. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12809293>.

Maalim, F. K., and A. M. Melesse. "Modelling the Impacts of Subsurface Drainage on Surface Runoff and Sediment Yield in the Le Sueur Watershed, Minnesota, USA." Hydrological Sciences Journal 58.3 (2013): 570-86. Taylor & Francis Online. Web. <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02626667.2013.774088#abstract>.

Meals, Donald W., Steven A. Dressing, and Thomas E. Davenport. "Lag Time in Water Quality Response to Best Management Practices: A Review." Journal of Environmental Quality 39 (2009): 85. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

"More Information - Hydrologic Soil Groups." More Information - Hydrologic Soil Groups. Purdue University. Web. 31 Mar. 2015. <https://engineering.purdue.edu/mapserve/LTHIA7/documentation/hsg.html>.

"Nutrient Pollution, The Problem." Unites States Environmental Protection Agency. 3 Feb. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2015. <http://www2.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/problem>.

Rao, Nalini S., Zachary M. Eastman, Elliot M. Schneiderman, Mark S. Zion, and David R. Lee. "Modeling watershed-scale effectiveness of agricultural best management practices to reduce phosphorus loading." Journal of Environmental Management 90 (2009): 1385-95. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

South Mountain Research & Consulting, WASTE NOT Resource Solutions. “Phase 2 Stream Geomorphic Assessment Rock River Watershed Highgate and Franklin, Franklin County, Vermont” Highgate Center, VT. Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation; 2006 December. 99p.

United States Department of Agriculture. Web Soil Service. N.p., 6 Dec. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm>.

Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation & Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets. State of Vermont Proposal for a Clean Lake Champlain. November 20, 2013. Date Accessed: March 30, 2015 <http://www.watershedmanagement.vt.gov/erp/champlain/docs/2013-11-20_DRAFT_Proposal_for_a_Clean_Lake_Champlain.pdf>

https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/jeq/abstracts/32/3/927

"Water Pollution, Chemicals and Pollutants." National Library of Medicine, Environmental Student Health Portal. National Library of Medicine. Web. 29 Mar. 2015. <http://kidsenvirohealth.nlm.nih.gov/subtopic/004/water-pollution/005/chemicals-and-pollutants/>.

References

Questions?

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