Project Number: 6602-13000-023-03
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jun 01, 2002
End Date: May 31, 2007

Objective:
To develop and maintain an integrated geo-spatial data resource on land use and water quantity and quality in the Suwannee River Basin (SRB); 2) increase understanding of the interrelationships between agricultural production and water resources in the SRB; and 3) develop and enhance tools, including simulation models, to provide better information for decision makers in water resource management.

Approach:
While the USDA-ARS and University of Georgia have detailed hydrologic, land use, and water quality records for 25-30 years for the LRW, above Tifton, GA, and the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) and other agencies in Florida have detailed information on groundwater, surface water, and water quality in the Florida part of the basin, very little information on the rest of the heavily agricultural part of the upper Suwannee basin exists. There is a pressing need to provide a network of streamflow, groundwater, precipitation, water quality, and land use information for the entire basin, to make the data from GA and FL compatible and accessible, and to conduct research to improve agricultural management practices so they take advantage of the processes controlling water quantity and quality in the basin. The USDA-ARS-SEWRL proposes to partner with UGA to provide this network and data management by building on our long-term research and monitoring in the LRW. The first phase of this will be to provide more complete coverage of the Little River 8-digit Hydrologic Unit and to provide comparisons to other large sub-basins, the Alapaha and Withlacoochee.