Location: Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory
Project Number: 8042-13610-030-100-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2025
End Date: Sep 30, 2029
Objective:
Identify regionally-relevant conservation approaches that may mitigate stream sediment legacy phosphorus sources or that will be effective in conjunction with field and edge-of-field conservation practices identified in an earlier phase of this Legacy P project. Results will help link field, edge-of-field, and downstream practices to develop comprehensive watershed conservation strategies. This part will support the Choptank River watershed contribution.
Approach:
Conduct stream legacy P sampling activities at 10-20 individual stream reaches for each participating location (10) and develop datasets that describe relationships between watershed conditions, stream reach characteristics, and labile P and buffering capacity within stream sediments. In later stages of the project, this information will be integrated into predictive equations and communicated with conservation professionals and the modeling community. The last task will include working with leaders of different modeling tools to develop a plan for integrating stream legacy P into existing modeling tools used by NRCS and its partners to improve conservation decisions for watershed outcomes. Watershed models that incorporate both watershed and in-stream sources of legacy P will enhance evaluations of conservation practices at the watershed scale, inform decisions about nutrient management, and set realistic expectations for lag times in P transport, leading to mitigation of eutrophication and harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, Lake Erie, and other surface waters important to the long-term success of our nation.