69th SWCS International Annual Conference July 27-30, 2014 Lombard, IL

1. UNDERSTANDING THE
TOOLS FOR QUANTIFYING
CONSERVATION
PERFORMANCE
RyanAnderson
EcologicalEconomist
SWCS InternationalAnnualConference2014

2. OUR APPROACH
1. Identifyprojectareasuitability
2. Developinfrastructureforwaterquality
monitoring
3. Buildawatershedmodel
4. Prioritizefarmeroutreach
5. Estimatefield-andfarm-scaleconservation
performance
6. Payparticipatingfarmersforreductions
fromfieldbaselines

3. IDENTIFY PROJECT AREA SUITABILITY
SPARROW(USGS) PRESTO(WisconsinDNR)

4. DEVELOP MONITORING INFRASTRUCTURE
Keyconsiderations:
• Locationinwatershed
• Instreamvs.field-edge
• Fixed-intervalvs.event-based
• MinimumWQparameters
− Baseflow
− Sediment(TSS&TDS)
− Total&dissolvedreactiveP
− TotalN&compounds
• Startup/ongoingsupport
• Frequencyofanalysis

5. BUILD A WATERSHED MODEL
• DigitalElevationModel
• Landuse
• Soils
• Weather
• Managementpractices(e.g.crop,
fertilizer,tillage)
• Reservoirsandoutlet(s)
• Pointsourceloads
• Monitoringstationdata

6. WhereareagriculturalPlosses
concentrated?
Arewatershedorfarmer-ledgroups
activethere?
Whichreductionactivitieswouldbe
cost-effective?
PRIORITIZE FARMER OUTREACH

7. ESTIMATE FIELD/FARM-SCALE PERFORMANCE
Process-basedwatershedsimulationmodelthatcan:
• Routewater,sediment,nutrients,andpesticidesatanyuser-definedscale
• Assessenvironmentaleffectsofimplementingabroadrangeof
agronomicandstructuralpractices
• IntegratewithSWATandtheFarmEconomicModel
• Beusedasawebinterface(NTT)in~13states

8. ESTIMATE FIELD/FARM-SCALE PERFORMANCE
HelpsWisconsinfarmersdevelopagency-compliantnutrientmanagement
plansandcalculate:
• N-P-Krecommendationsbycrop/field
• RUSLE2-basedsoillossassessmentofwhichfieldsmeettolerablesoilloss
• AnnualandrotationalPIvalueforallfields
• RotationalPbalancebasedonsoiltests
• LbsofPlossreductionfortrading(indevelopment)
SnapPlus
Whataboutotherstates?

9. PAY FARMERS FOR REDUCTIONS

10. HOW DO WE DESIGN TOOLS FOR FARMERS?
Source:AliSaleh,TarletonStateUniversity

11. FIELD TO MARKET’S FIELDPRINT CALCULATOR
Source:AliSaleh,TarletonStateUniversity

12. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
• Usewatershed-scalemodelstosetthecontextandprioritizeefforts
• Usefield-scaletools/modelsfordecisionmakingandincentivepayments
• Calibratemodelstorecentconditionsandvalidatewithmonitoringdata
• Newtechnologiescanhelpstreamlinefield-to-watershedscale
conservationprograms
BUT
• Howlongwillittaketoseechange?
• Whataboutsocial/economic/ecologicaloutcomes?