National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) Pilot Project – Connecting on-farm conservation efforts to watershed scale assessments to benefit water quality

USDA-NRCS Landscape Conservation Initiatives Team

Dee Carlson

SWCS 72nd International Annual Conference

• Working collaboratively with EPA and states

to improve water quality in small agricultural

watersheds

• Primary goal to reduce nonpoint sources of

nutrients and sediment, and pathogens

related to animal agriculture

A major focus of the Initiative is to demonstrate that focused implementation of conservation practices can lead to meaningful progress on water quality goals

National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) Launched in 2012

Successful Watershed Planning*

• Establish strong partnerships through stakeholder, community and

producer involvement

• Define achievable and measureable watershed goals

• Clearly understand the pollutants of concern and transport modes

• Target conservation to critical source areas

• Develop conservation systems that address the pollutants, and that

meet producers’ needs (fit the watershed and fit the operations)

• Apply effective outreach strategies

* CEAP watersheds synthesis (2012), Rural Clean Water Program evaluation (1993), EPA

watershed planning (2008), RESOLVE review of NRCS watershed projects (2015)

NWQI Increases Water Quality Conservation

NWQI provided a three-fold increase in average annual practice obligation and a four-fold increase in average annual treated acres for core water quality practices, as compared to General EQIP in the same small watersheds

Baseline Years – 2010-2011

NWQI Reaches More Customers

NWQI more than doubled the amount of producers reached for voluntary conservation in small priority watersheds

Baseline Years – 2010-2011

NWQI’s Targeted Approach

Primary targeting approach for NWQI is to concentrate efforts at the small watershed scale (HUC12) in priority watersheds identified by the State water quality agency and other NRCS partners.

Further targeting is needed to adequately address water quality concerns….

Source: Vulnerability Assessment and Program

Performance Tool (VAPPT) developed by the NRCS RAD

GIS Lab for NWQI

• Identify pollutants of concern

• Identify pollutant sources

• Identify pollutant transport mechanisms

and routes

• Identify and target conservation to critical

source areas

Pollutant(s)

Sources

Transport

Critical Areas

Within-Watershed Targeting Approach

Slide courtesy of Craig Goodwin, NRCS National Water Quality Specialist

Need for Watershed-Scale Assessment

While a watershed plan is a requirement for inclusion in

NWQI, many of the initial NWQI watersheds lack

watershed plans at the scale or level of detail necessary

to inform placement of on-farm conservation efforts for

greatest water quality benefit.

NWQI Pilot Project

• Develop watershed-scale assessments during the pilot period

sufficient to guide future investments in on-farm planning and

conservation efforts to increase water quality improvements.

• Assessments complement existing watershed plans by

identifying vulnerable acres for treatment in order to

accomplish watershed goals.

• Outreach strategies to achieve conservation on acres most in

need of treatment

• Identify meaningful measures of progress towards watershed

goals

Targeting Tools Used by Pilot Watersheds

• Soil Vulnerability Index (SVI) - NRCS Resource Assessment Division

• CEAP Conservation Benefits Identifier (CCBI) – NRCS Resource Assessment Division

• Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) – ARS-Iowa

• Prioritize, Target, Measure Application (PTMApp) - International Water Institute, Red River Watershed Management Board, MN Board of Soil and Water Resources, Houston Engineering Inc.

• APEX/SWAT – TAMU/ARS – Texas

NRCS CEAP Soil Vulnerability Index (SVI) - Identifies cropland soils vulnerable to runoff and leaching. Based on APEX modeling for CEAP cropland.

Source: Vulnerability Assessment and Program Performance Tool

(VAPPT) developed by the NRCS RAD GIS Lab for NWQI

NRCS CEAP Conservation Benefits Identifier (CCBI) - Qualifies relationships between levels of

inherent vulnerability (SVI) and known levels of conservation treatment to rank fields by their potential

for soil or water quality gains from additional conservation.

Source: Vulnerability Assessment and Program

Performance Tool (VAPPT) developed by the NRCS

RAD GIS Lab for NWQI

Across watershed: Nutrient/manure management, Cover Crops, No-tillage or strip tillage

Slide courtesy of Jill Reinhart, NRCS Indiana State Office

ARS - Agricultural

Conservation

Planning

Framework

(ACPF):

GIS-based planning

resource to help

improve soil

management and

identify potential

practices and

locations to

control/reduce water

and nutrient

movement within

fields, at and below

field edges, and in

riparian zones.

Avoid point and non-point source contributions from agricultural operations

Control runoff, erosion, and leaching to ground water

Trap or physically stop contaminants before they can exit the agricultural landscape

Systems Approach to Non-Point Source Control: Avoid, Control, and Trap (ACT)

Control

Avoid

Trap

Slide courtesy of Craig Goodwin, NRCS National Water Quality Specialist

Pilot Results Analysis and Lessons Learned

Nitrogen Transport/

New vs. Existing NWQI

Priority 1 Treated

Acres (%)

Priority 1 Needing

Treatment (%)

Acres with

Improvement (%)

Acres Fully Treated*

(%)

RUNOFF

New Watersheds 54% 60% 44% 10%

Existing Watersheds 76% 51% 63% 2%

LEACHING

New Watersheds 37% 54% 19% 8%

Existing Watersheds 38% 66% 35% 24%

Successful Targeting – Example AnalysisAverage Watershed Size 24,000

Average Percent Cultivated Acres 33%

*Full treatment refers to a system comprised of all 3 components - avoiding, controlling

and trapping practices.

Data from the NWQI Decision Tool developed by the NRCS RAD GIS Lab

Pilot Results Analysis and Lessons Learned

• Measure progress towards watershed goals

– Track implementation on critical source areas in graduated pilot watersheds

– Establish and monitor a set of water quality metrics that meets local partners’

needs - outcomes

– In-stream monitoring results where available

• NRCS will continue to work with science partners to evaluate and

implement targeting tools

• Continued focus on outreach strategies - the importance of producer

engagement cannot be overstated

Next Steps