AbstractEffects of Conservation Practices in the Upper Mississippi River BasinTrack: Water Resources Author The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) was designed to provide estimates of the environmental benefits of conservation practices currently in use on cultivated cropland in the U.S. The assessment uses a sampling and modeling approach. The field-level effects of conservation practices were assessed using a field-scale model – the Agricultural Policy Environmental EXtender (APEX) – which simulated the farming activities, wind and water erosion, organic carbon dynamics, and field losses of soil, nutrients, and pesticides. A watershed model – the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) – was used to simulate how the reductions of field losses reduced instream concentrations and loadings of sediment, nutrients, and pesticides. The assessment has been completed for the Upper Mississippi River Basin and shows that conservation practices currently in use have reduced delivery of sediment from farm fields to rivers and streams by 65%, nitrogen by 29%, phosphorus by 25% and atrazine by 28%. Jeff Arnold USDA/ARS 808 E. Blackland Road Temple, Texas 76502 United States Phone: 254-770-6502 Fax: 254-770-6561 E-mail: jeff.arnold@ars.usda.gov Mauro DiLuzio Texas AgriLife Blackland Research Center 720 E. Blackland Road Temple, Texas 76502 United States Phone: 254-774-6100 Fax: 254-774-6001 E-mail: mdiluzio@brc.tamus.edu C Santhi Texas AgriLife Blackland Research Center 720 E. Blackland Road Temple, Texas 76502 United States Phone: 254-774-6141 Fax: 254-774-6001 E-mail: csanthi@ars.usda.gov Narayanan Kannan Texas AgriLife Blackland Research Center 720 E. Blackland Road Temple, Texas 76502 United States Phone: 254-774-6122 Fax: 254-774-6001 E-mail: nkannan@brc.tamus.edu Mike White USDA-ARS 808 E. Blackland Road Temple, Texas 76502 United States Phone: 254-770-6523 E-mail: mike.white@ars.usda.gov |