Town Brook/Cannonsville Reservoir Watersheds A CEAP-WAS contribution Bil Gburek and friendsPasture Systems and Watershed Management Research UnitUSDA-ARSUniversity Park, PA

CEAP-WAS WorkshopIrving, TX; March 2005

New York City water supply watersheds1,969 mi28 million people1.3 billion gal daily2 main reservoir systemseast of Hudson minimal ag problemswest of Hudson forest and dairy agricultureP-related problemsmanure use/disposal

West-of-Hudson watersheds

CEAP-WAS BMP implementation andevaluation typically at field scale...

Research objectives pre-CEAP origins

Client-drivenWAC Del Cty SWCD NRCSNYC-DEP NYS-DEC EPA

Contributing research groupsARS (lead) Cornell UniversityUSGS NYC-DEPNYS-DEC

Research objectives pre-CEAP originsQuantify P loss from dairy agriculture at field, farm, and watershed scalesEvaluate efficacy of BMPs, individually and in combinationEvaluate effectiveness of current BMP strategy in reducing P lossDevelop new and/or improved strategies for BMP selection and sitingMaintain sustainability and economic viability of farms

Monitoring data available

Research approachField landscape farm small watershed Town Brook Watershed focusrepresentative of Cannonsville conditionsevaluation of BMPs singly or in combinationfarmers management decisions and BMPs can be tied directly to P loss to the streamModeling to extrapolate to Cannonsville scalefarm-scale modeling IFSM (enterprise costs) watershed-scale modeling SWAT current levels of P lossincorporate and evaluate effects of BMPsoptimization for BMP selection & placement

Anticipated productsDocumented effectiveness of individual BMPs in reducing P loss Catskill appropriateWatershed modeling incorporating impacts of BMPs considering source, transport, and BMP intervention processes national applicabilityMethodology for effective and economic selection and siting of BMPs national applicability

ProgressBMP effectiveness quantified (w/ pubs)streambank fencingcover cropsgrass filter strips/riparian buffersP-sorbing materialsP source investigations (w/ pubs)soil P-runoff P relationshipsP transport investigations (w/ pubs) VSA characterization and impactpotential for subsurface transport

Progress (contd)BMP tool developed (JSWC)Optimized BMPs at farm scale (ASAE)Optimized BMPs at watershed scale (AWRA accepted)Farm-scale BMPs e.g., precision feeding and improved forage utilization to reduce P imbalance; environmental and economic impactsImproved manure P model subroutinesRole of channel processes in watershed-scale P transport dynamics