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ARS Home » Northeast Area » University Park, Pennsylvania » Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #293861
Title: Water quality effects and placement of pasture best management practices in the Spring Creek Watershed (Centre County, PA)

Author
item Goslee, Sarah
item PIECHNIK, DENISE - Collaborator

Submitted to: USDA NRCS Technical Notes
Publication Type: Government Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/5/2013
Publication Date: 2/13/2015
Citation: Goslee, S.C., Piechnik, D. 2015. Water quality effects and placement of pasture best management practices in the Spring Creek Watershed (Centre County, PA). USDA NRCS CEAP Science Note. p 1-4.

Interpretive Summary: An interpretive summary is not required.

Technical Abstract: Pasture-based best management practices (BMPs), including stream bank fencing, stream crossings, and bank stabilization, improved water quality ten years after installation by reducing sediment, but did not affect nitrogen concentration. Abundance and diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates increased, and more 1-yr old and adult brown trout were found in treated subwatersheds ten years after BMPs were installed. Two methods to plan BMP placement were compared using topographic modeling. Water flow paths following elevation contours were 49% longer than the most direct path to the stream. BMPs placed along the shortest path from concentration area to stream missed flow capture by more than 20m in most cases. Topographic flow paths should be used as a planning tool for placing future BMPs to mitigate grazing effects on streams.