Quantifying Water Quality and Other Environmental Benefits of Agricultural Conservation Practices

Abstract

The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002—referred to as the 2002 farm bill—substantially increased funding levels of conservation programs—up nearly 80 percent above the level set for conservation under the 1996 farm bill. While it is widely recognized that these conservation programs will protect millions of acres, the environmental benefits have not previously been quantified for reporting at the national scale. Moreover, while an extensive body of literature exists on the effects of conservation practices at the field level, there are few research studies designed to measure the larger effects. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are working together on the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) to quantify the environmental benefits of conservation practices at the national and watershed-scales as a measure for how the money being spent is meeting the goals. There are two main components of CEAP—a national assessment provides modeled estimates of conservation benefits for annual reporting, and the second component quantifies the environmental benefits from specific conservation or best management practices at a watershed scale. The watershed assessment studies component of CEAP complements the national assessment by providing more in-depth assessment of water quality and other benefits at a finer scale of resolution than is possible for the national assessment. The first set of watersheds is the ARS benchmark watersheds, where ARS has conservation effects research projects underway, became fully operational in 2004. The 12 ARS benchmark watersheds are located near Ames, Iowa; Tifton, Georgia; El Reno, Oklahoma; Temple, Texas; Oxford, Mississippi; University Park, Pennsylvania; Columbia, Missouri; West Lafayette, Indiana; and Columbus, Ohio. In addition to these ARS locations, scientists from Ft. Collins, Colorado are assisting with a portion of the modeling activities. Environmental effects will be estimated for water quality, soil quality, and water conservation. One of the goals of the ARS benchmark watersheds is to develop a set of USDA Watershed Assessment Models that can address environmental quality assessments for specific regions of the nation. This national effort will advance the knowledge of how watershed scale assessments should be done and provide additional research findings and insights on the expected off-site effects of conservation practices. Annual reports that document the environmental benefits of conservation practices will be published beginning in 2006. Tracking the progress of conservation programs in terms of the outcomes achieved will allow policymakers and program managers to improve the effectiveness of existing programs and design new programs to increase the conservation of our nation's natural resources.