Natural Resources Conservation Service

United States Department of Agriculture

Loading Tree...

ARS Benchmark Watershed Studies

About the Studies

In 14 benchmark watersheds, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is conducting in-depth studies that will help to validate physical-process models used for the National Assessment component of the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP). ARS has been conducting research on most of the 14 benchmark watersheds for a considerable period of time and anticipates that research and assessments in these watershed will be continued over many years.

ARS is also conducting research for CEAP in some of the Special Emphasis Watersheds selected by the Natural Resources Conservation Service to address specific resource concerns such as manure management from animal feeding operations and water use and conservation on irrigated cropland.

ARS CEAP Homepage

Data

ARS makes data from their CEAP Watershed Studies available through an on-line database, Sustaining the Earth’s Watersheds Agricultural Research Data System (STEWARDS). Meteorological, hydrological and water quality data can be downloaded by users who register with the site.

Publications

The National Agricultural Library maintains a dynamic bibliography cataloguing all ARS watershed studies from 2003 to the present.

Key Publications

Fighting Nitrate in the Trenches, Agricultural Research, February 2012 (PDF; 2.2 MB)
The Challenge of Documenting Water Quality Benefits of Conservation Practices: A Review of USDA-ARS's Conservation Effects Assessment Project Watershed Studies, Water Science and Technology, July 2011
Helping Save the Chesapeake Bay, Agricultural Research, August 2010 (PDF; 6.4 MB)
ARS's Quest To Improve the Chesapeake Bay, Agricultural Research, November/December 2006
Evaluation of the Importance of Channel Processes in CEAP-Watershed Suspended-Sediment Yields, April 2006
Conservation: Are We Getting Our Money's Worth? Agriculture Research, December 2005

Watershed Assessment Study Annual Meeting

Principal scientific investigators from each of the USDA-ARS watersheds meet annually with other CEAP scientists to share technical reports and other information from the 14 ARS Benchmark Watershed studies and other relevant research.

2006 Annual Meeting

2005 Annual Meeting

Research

ARS Watershed Assessment Study Plan, October 2004 (PDF; 4 MB)
The ARS CEAP plan describes the five specific research objectives and plans of the first five years of what is expected to be a much longer project. The objectives are:

Develop and implement a web-based data system to organize, document, manipulate, and compile climate, water, soil, land-management, and socioeconomic data from ARS research watersheds for assessment of conservation practices and other hydrologic analyses. The system is called STEWARDS: Sustaining the Earth's Watersheds, Agricultural Research Data System.
- STEWARDS for Access to Vital Watershed Data, Agricultural Research magazine, August 2006 (PDF; 0.2 MB)
- STEWARDS system design, March 2006 (PDF; 0.5 MB)
- STEWARDS: An Integrated Data System for ARS Watershed Research, September 2005 (PDF; 1 MB)
- STEWARDS (Sustaining the Earth's Watersheds): An Integrated ARS Watershed Data System, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 1.2 MB)
Measure and quantify water quality, water quantity, soil quality, and ecosystem effects of conservation practices at the watershed scale in a variety of hydrologic and agronomic settings.
- Adapting Existing Models to Examine Effects of Agricultural Conservation Programs on Stream Habitat Quality, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, February 2006 (PDF; 0.3 MB)
- Black Willow Cutting Survival in Streambank Plantings, Southeastern United States, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, February 2006 (PDF; 0.1 MB)
- ARS CEAP Watershed Assessment Studies: Elements of Watershed Research Design, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 0.8 MB)
Validate models and quantify uncertainties of model predictions at multiple scales by comparing predictions of water quality to measured water, soil and land management effects of conservation practices.
- Model Validation, Evaluation and Uncertainty Analysis, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PPT; 17.0 MB)
Develop and apply policy-planning tools to aid selection and placement of conservation practices to optimize profits, environmental quality, and conservation practice efficiency.
- CEAP ARS Economic Analysis, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 0.3 MB)
Develop and verify regional watershed models that quantify environmental outcomes of conservation practices in major agricultural regions.
- Model Development and Regionalization, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 0.2 MB)

In addition, ARS will provide quality assurance/quality control guidelines for methods and procedures to be used for data collection and analysis in the benchmark watersheds.

Compilation of Measured Nutrient Load Data for Agricultural Land Uses in the United States, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, October 2006 (PDF; 1 MB)
Practical Guidance for Discharge and Water Quality Data Collection on Small Watersheds, Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, August 2006 (PDF; 0.3 MB)
Cumulative Uncertainty in Measured Streamflow and Water Quality Data for Small Watersheds, Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, June 2006 (PDF; 0.3 MB)

Watersheds

The Current Research Information System (CRIS) is USDA's documentation and reporting system for ongoing and recently completed research and education projects.

Benchmark Watersheds		Location
Beasley Lake	Bibliography (Articles) Bibliography (Books) Fact Sheet (PDF; 1.9 MB) Poster (PDF; 8.1 MB) Beasley Lake Watershed, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 1.8 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.3 MB) CRIS summary	Mississippi
Choptank River	Bibliography (Articles) Bibliography (Books) ARS Chesapeake Bay Research Intensifies, Agricultural Research, August 2010 (PDF; 0.3 MB) Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Revs Up!, Agricultural Research, August 2010 (PDF; 0.2 MB) Choptank River Watershed Project Overview, June 2007 (PDF; 1.3 MB) Using Remote Sensing to Describe Nutrient Uptake by Cover Crops on Maryland's Eastern Shore, June 2007 (PDF; 0.4 MB) Innovative Tools for Mapping Forested Wetlands in the Choptank River Watershed, May 2007 (PDF; 0.7 MB)	Maryland
Goodwater Creek	Bibliography (Articles) Bibliography (Books)	Missouri
Goodwin Creek	Bibliography (Articles) Fact Sheet (PDF; 1.2 MB) Poster (PDF; 4.6 MB) Goodwin Creek Experimental Watershed, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 2.0 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.2 MB) CRIS summary CRIS summary	Mississippi
Leon River	Bibliography (Articles) Bibliography (Books) Fact Sheet (PDF; 1.7 MB) Poster (PDF; 5.6 MB) CEAP Data Collection in the Upper Leon River Watershed, Texas, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, May 2006 (PDF; 0.3 MB) CEAP Monitoring Activies in the Upper Leon River Watershed, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 2.5 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.1 MB) CRIS summary	Texas
Little River	Bibliography (Articles) Bibliography (Books) Fact Sheet (PDF; 2.6 MB) Poster (PDF; 5.9 MB) Hydrologic Impacts of Land-Use Changes in Coastal Plain Watersheds, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, May 2006 (PDF; 0.1 MB) Litter River Experimental Watershed Water Quality Record: The First Three Decades, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, May 2006 (PDF; 0.4 MB) Little River Watershed, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 3.4 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.1 MB) CRIS summary CRIS summary	Georgia
Mahantango Creek	Bibliography (Articles)	Pennsylvania
North Walnut Creek	Bibliography (Articles) Bibliography (Books) Fact Sheet (PDF; 1.9 MB) Poster (PDF; 6.8 MB) Application of the AnnAGNPS Model to the Walnut Creek, Iowa CEAP Benchmark Watershed, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, May 2006 (PDF; 0.1 MB) Modification & Application of SWAT to Landscapes with Subsurface Tiles and Enclosed Depressions (Potholes) as Applied to Walnut Creek Watershed, IA, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, May 2006 (PDF; 4.0 MB) Walnut Creek Watershed: CEAP Plans and Progress, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 0.3 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.1 MB) CRIS summary	Iowa
St. Joseph River	Bibliography (Articles) Fact Sheet (PDF; 1.2 MB) Poster (PDF; 4.2 MB) Press Release (Jan. 30, 2006) St. Joseph River CEAP Watershed Update, May 2005 (PDF; 3.1 MB) CEAP Workshop Report: St. Joseph River Watershed, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 2.1 MB) St. Joseph Watershed Project: CEAP and ARS Funding Overview, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 2.0 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.1 MB) CRIS summary CRIS summary	Indiana
Salt River / Mark Twain	Bibliography (Articles) Bibliography (Books) Fact Sheet (PDF; 3.1 MB) Poster (PDF; 4.6 MB) Mark Twain Lake - Salt River CEAP, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 1.0 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.1 MB) CRIS summary CRIS summary	Missouri
South Fork of the Iowa River	Bibliography (Articles) Fact Sheet (PDF; 2.2 MB) Poster (PDF; 6.2 MB) Conservation Practices and Water Quality in Iowa's South Fork Watershed, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, May 2006 (PDF; 13.7 MB) SWAT2005: Geo-referenced Tile Flow and Pothole Component Application to the South Fork of the Iowa River, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, May 2006 (PDF; 0.9 MB) Water Quality and Conservation Practices, USDA-CSREES National Water Quality Conference, February 2006 (PDF; 1 MB) Assessing Soil Fertility, SWCS Annual Conference, July 2005 (PDF; 0.9 MB) Movement and Survival of Fecal Contaminant Indicators, SWCS Annual Conference, July 2005 (PDF; 0.3 MB) South Fork of the Iowa River Watershed: Status of CEAP Research, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 1.3 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.1 MB) CRIS summary	Iowa
Town Brook	Bibliography (Articles) Fact Sheet (PDF; 3.0 MB) Poster (PDF; 5.6 MB) Town Brook/Cannonsville Reservoir Watersheds - A CEAP Watershed Assessment Study Contribution, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PPT; 15.0 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.1 MB) CRIS summary	New York
Upper Big Walnut Creek	Bibliography (Articles) Fact Sheet (PDF; 2.0 MB) Poster (PDF; 5.7 MB) Upper Big Walnut Creek Watershed, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 1.4 MB) Upper Big Walnut Watershed: A Conjoint Analysis of Local Opinion Towards Water Quality, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 0.1 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.1 MB) CRIS summary CRIS summary	Ohio
Upper Washita River	Bibliography (Articles) Fact Sheet (PDF; 3.7 MB) Poster (PDF; 5.2 MB) USGS Project--Sources and Impacts of Nutrients, January 2006 Watershed Assessment Study: Upper Washita River Subwatersheds, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PPT; 12.6 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.1 MB) CRIS summary CRIS summary	Oklahoma
Upper Snake Rock	Bibliography (Articles)	Idaho
Yalobusha River	Bibliography (Articles) Bibliography (Books) Fact Sheet (PDF; 1.5 MB) Poster (PDF; 5.5 MB) Yalobusha River Watershed, CEAP-ARS Watershed Assessment annual meeting, March 2005 (PDF; 0.8 MB) Watershed Description (PDF; 0.1 MB)	Mississippi