Location: Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory
Project Number: 3098-13610-009-002-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jun 1, 2026
End Date: May 31, 2028
Objective:
The objective of this work is to measure water and energy fluxes from three types of management at the Riesel Watersheds: 1) cropped business as usual (tilled, no cover crops, high rate of fertility management); 2) cropped aspirational/optimal soil health (no-till, cover crops, fertilized using soil health fertility metrics for the median crop yield); and 3) a reference condition (remnant native prairie grasses).
Approach:
USDA owns the land and manages the fields. Texas A&M owns the equipment that measures the energy and water balances. As the northern most site in the Texas A&M Texas Water Observatory, this site marks an important transition being the most inland location on the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain.