INTEGRATED WATERSHED RESEARCH Avenue Towards Sustainable Economic and Environmental Agricultural ProductionUSDA-Agricultural Research Service, J. Phil Campbell Sr. Nat. Res. Conservation Center, Watkinsville-GA

PURPOSE! In order to efficiently utilize and protect our natural

resources we must understand what they are made of and how the pieces function in harmony

! Integrated watershed research offers us an opportunity to do just that through collection, documentation, interpretation and dissemination of basic data, information, and knowledge of watershed processes and function

! These activities serve as a basis for design, implementation, monitoring, evaluating, and understanding watershed management practices and programs and their impact, and to predict watershed response to alternative land use and management practices

! Water flow creates a physical link between the land and streams. Water is erosive, a solvent for nutrients, and a key component of agriculture and natural habitats. To understand our natural environment, we must know how water gets from land to streams and what it does in the process

RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES! Located within a typical Southern Piedmont landscape

! Cropped watersheds: P1, P2, P3, P4! Grazed watersheds: W1, W2, and #14 at Dawson Field! Experimental watershed, an outside hydrologic laboratory:

the North Unit with measurable springs, stream, ponds, and cropped and grazed catchments ! Twelve instrumented water quality plots - WQ! Twenty six groundwater monitoring wells ! Several full and partial weather stations ! Soil physical, chemical, and microbiological laboratory

facilities! Laboratory capability for map analysis using geographic

information system and global positioning system! Interdisciplinary team! Partners and Cooperators: UGA, EPA, NRCS, other ARS

locations, other universities, environmental groups, local, state and federal agencies involved in natural resource issues, farmers and producer groups and commissions

PRODUCTS! Rainfall-runoff relationships, and losses of sediment,

nutrient, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, and fecal bacteria and pathogen by land use across multi-scale watersheds ! Hydrologic and chemical response of groundwater and

springs to land use and variable climate! Effectiveness of small wetlands and farm ponds to

sequester nutrients and fecal bacteria ! Components of nitrogen in wetlands and shallow subsurface ! Knowledge of controlling factors of spatial and temporal

distribution of soil water across landscapes! Evaluation of tillage (conservation vs conventional) and

fertilizer (inorganic vs poultry litter) practices on productivity and environmental response of watersheds! Improved management practices ! Database for testing and evaluating environmental models ! Integrated grazing and cropping system analysis! Analysis of agricultural-urban interface interactions

W2 Groundwater ElevationsJanuary 2003 - January 2005

225.0225.5226.0226.5227.0227.5228.0228.5229.0229.5230.0230.5231.0231.5232.0232.5233.0233.5234.0234.5

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Flume

W2 Watershed - USDA, ARS Watkinsville, GA

Ksat research locations by Maria E. Abreu & Dr. Larry WestCrop & Soil Sciences Department, University of Georgia - Athens

2" Monitoring Wells

Elevation in meters ASL & contour intervals = 0.25 meters

OUTREACH

W1 - Weir W2 - Flume P1 - Flume

W2 Spring - Flume Pond Outflow - Flume Pond Level Sensor

Conven. Till Runoff - Flume No-Till Runoff - Flume

Pond Inflow Weir

Groundwater Level - W2 Wells

DINKU

STEPHEN

Water Quality (WQ) Plots -West Unit

P1 Conventional vs Conservation Tillage Dawson Field Paddocks - #14

CONTACTS

USDA-ARS-JPCSNRCC, 706-769-5631

Dinku Endale - Agricultural Engineer, X239, dendale@uga.edu

Stephen Norris - Ag. Research Technician, X221, snorris@uga.edu

SCIENTISTS

PRIMARY SUPPORT PERSONNEL

Dinku Endale, Harry Schomberg, Dwight Fisher, Wayne Reeves, Alan Franzluebbers, Michael Jenkins, Clara Parker, Ron Sharpe, Dory Franklin

Stephen Norris, Robin Woodroof, Tony Dillard, Jeff Scarbrough, Steve Knapp, Shaheen Humayoun, Ronald Phillips, Beth Barton

NorthNorth

Scale 1:33475Scale 1:33475