water quality monitoring in the jersey valley watershed - herron
TRANSCRIPT
Water Quality in the Jersey Valley Watershed
Callie Herron
UW Discovery Farms® Program
July 2015
SWCS Conference
Monitor surface water quality to understand its relationship to land management.
It all started with Jersey Valley Lake
• Lake water quality• Stream water quality• Edge of Field Overview• Comparing loss between systems
Lake water quality and its influences
Comparing edge-of-field management practices
8 permanent sites
5 grab sample sites
95% of land walked
Lake meets some fish and aquatic life standards, not recreational.
Fish & Aquatic Recreational
Phosphorus
Chlorophyll-a
P c
once
ntr
atio
n (m
g/L)
Stream above the lake is not impaired.
0.075
P C
once
ntra
tion
(mg/
L)The impact of the lake is localized.
0.075
Poor Health Good Health High Level of Management
At or below DF average
losses
?
Should it? Can we expect it to?
Monitoring multiple farming systems helps understand what drives losses in one system compared to another.
Edge-of-Field Site Descriptions
Site Use Tillage Manure
1 Corn, alfalfa None Surface apply, winter spreading
4 Corn, alfalfa, oats Vertical tillage Surface apply
5 Corn, alfalfa Manure incorporation
+ vertical tillage
Incorporate
Field management does not impact the amount of runoff during frozen or saturated conditions.
Frozen ground
Saturation
No till and reduced till systems minimize soil loss.
No till and reduced till systems lose dissolved P in the winter.
Maintain conservation practices.
Get nutrients below the surface.
Protect the soil surface.
The journey continues…
@DiscoveryFarms UW Discovery Farms