The Watershed Demonstration Project

A joint initiative of USDA-NRCS and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

Tools for Supporting Voluntary Efforts to Meet Water Quality Goals

Watershed approach assumes

•Corn, wheat and soybeans will continue to dominate

•Yields will need to increase

•Conservation $$ will need to stretch further

Feeding the World has a price…

• Soil erosion• Soil health• Local drinking water supplies (surface and wells)• Impacts on fish, wildlife, recreation• Drought• Floods• Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico & Lake Erie algae• Consumer perception of agricultural production• Supply chain pressure• Regulatory responses

Social science

D

Solving water quality problems associated with Midwestern agriculture

Reduced nutrient inputs

Increaseperennial

cover

Manage hydrology

Restorefilters

AB

C

Apply less NRecycle N with cover crops, crop rotations and perennials

Slow water flow Restore filters

The watershed approach

What reductions are needed?

45%EPA: Need to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus by 45% to reduce the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico

Lake Erie Phosphorus Task Force – similar reductions needed (41%) to reduce algal blooms

Use practices to reduce and recycle nutrient inputs within fields

Use practices within and at the edge of fields to capture flows and prevent nutrient losses

Use practices in riparian areas, ditches and streams to intercept and treat nutrients lost from fields

The Watershed Approach: a process for voluntary action

Foundation of the Watershed approach:• Broad use of nutrient use efficiency (source) and

soil health-building practices • Strategic restoration of buffers, wetlands and

streams (pathways & sinks)

Benefits to people:• Improved profitability/reduced regulatory

risk/increased resilience for farmers• Cleaner water, more wildlife, flood- and drought-

proofing for communities

Journal of Soil and Water Resources Sept-Oct 2013Tomer et al

Following the flow of water at the surface, in drainage tile, and subsurface

Designing a system of conservation practices to intercept that water all along the

flowpath

Location of NRCS Demonstration Watersheds

Matson Ditch

Process orientedParticipatoryIterativeVoluntary

Tools:Social scienceOutreachAnalysisMapping

A collaborative effort…Project leadership and management:• EDF (overall goals)• Local conservation staff (local

leadership, education & outreach, practice enrollment)

• Project Coordinator (local project management/education & outreach)

• Advisory Committee (local leadership)

Science support: Science TeamSocial science support: PurdueOutreach and T.A. support: multiple partners (EDF + Project Coordinator)Funding support: multiple partners (EDF + Project Coordinator)

Example of targeted practice map:the “45% solution”

Expected Benefits of the Watershed Approach - Proactively address local water quality- Prove that voluntary conservation can work - Shape agricultural conservation- Test and provide input on new conservation

planning tools