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Water Quality Monitoring in the Jersey Valley Watershed - Herron
This document summarizes the results of a study monitoring water quality in the Jersey Valley Watershed. Key findings include: - The lake meets some but not all fish, aquatic life, and recreational water quality standards. - Phosphorus levels in streams entering the lake do not exceed standards. - The impact of the lake on water quality appears to be localized. - Different edge-of-field farming systems were compared, and no-till and reduced till systems were found to minimize soil loss and lose less dissolved phosphorus in winter. - Field management practices did not impact runoff amounts during frozen or saturated soil conditions.
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Water Quality Monitoring in the Jersey Valley Watershed - Herron
- 1. Water Quality inthe Jersey Valley Watershed Callie Herron UW Discovery Farms® Program July 2015 SWCS Conference
- 2. Monitor surface waterquality to understand its relationship to land management.
- 4. It all startedwith Jersey Valley Lake
- 5. Lake water qualityand its influences Comparing edge-of-field management practices
- 6. 8 permanent sites 5grab sample sites 95% of land walked
- 7. Lake meets somefish and aquatic life standards, not recreational. Fish & Aquatic Recreational Phosphorus Chlorophyll-a
- 8. Pconcentration(mg/L) Stream above thelake is not impaired. 0.075
- 9. PConcentration(mg/L) The impact ofthe lake is localized. 0.075
- 10. Poor Health GoodHealth High Level of Management At or below DF average losses ?
- 11. Should it? Canwe expect it to?
- 12. Monitoring multiple farmingsystems helps understand what drives losses in one system compared to another. Edge-of-Field Site Descriptions Site Use Tillage Manure 1 Corn, alfalfa None Surface apply, winter spreading 4 Corn, alfalfa, oats Vertical tillage Surface apply 5 Corn, alfalfa Manure incorporation + vertical tillage Incorporate
- 13. Field management doesnot impact the amount of runoff during frozen or saturated conditions. Frozen ground Saturation
- 14. No till andreduced till systems minimize soil loss.
- 15. No till andreduced till systems lose dissolved P in the winter.
- 16. Maintain conservation practices. Get nutrientsbelow the surface. Protect the soil surface.
- 17.
Editor's Notes
- #3 Goal: identify and reduce the sources of sediment, p, and nitrogen that impair surface water 200 site years Measure the quantity and quality of water – P, N, Sediment
- #4 5,000 acres Driftless region Land use is primarily agricultural, with the majority of land being used to supply farms with corn and forages for dairy cattle Began project in 2010 Steep slopes, highly erodible soil, farmland Use of conservation practices – contour strips, grass waterways
- #5 Fish kill in early 2000s. Community really wanted to know what was the cause. Farmers really wanted to know what was coming off of their farm fields. Lake was emptied to fix dam Lake was refilled and we came in and began monitoring in 2011
- #7 Grab samples during the summer months using DNR methodology to determine stream and lake impairment status. - WDNR has criteria and thresholds to determine whether a water body is impaired. - We use the DNR’s Bureau of Water Quality Program Guidance (WisCALM) in our assessments. Stream: P, N, temperature, stream flow, DO, transparency, habitat assessment, biotic index
- #8 Based on 34 samples for Phosphorus Based on 18 samples for chlorophyll (July – September) P FAL: 60 ug/L P R: 30 ug/L Statistically speaking P is meeting the FAL threshold, just barely. But does exceed the Recreation threshold by more than 1.5 times Chl FAL: 27 ug/L Chl R: no more than 5% of days in the summer should exceed 20 ug/L, the level of chlorophyll-a that indicates a ‘nuisance algal bloom’ Statistics show that CL-a exceeds the FAL criteria. Average more than doubl, median just above. More than 50% of summer samples exceed 20 ug/L It is similar to other lakes in southwest Wisconsin. It is an impoundment lake that features some degree of mixing (not stratified), tends to have high P and chlorophyll levels, and as a result has low water clarity
- #9 -2014. Samples collected once a month. -DNR P Criteria: P not to exceed 0.075mg/L -Median May-October daily mean concentrations permanent in-stream site ~0.057 mg/L (2011-2014)
- #10 - Biotic index is good or fair for all sites but 3 (poor).
- #11 Use conservation practices like no till, contour cropping, and grassed waterways over 25 miles of grassed waterways Most farmers use contour strips Walkovers ID’ed only 3% of land in need of immediate attention - Must maintain high level of farm management to avoid chronic loss
- #12 It is similar to other lakes in southwest Wisconsin. It is an impoundment lake that features some degree of mixing (not stratified), tends to have high P and chlorophyll levels, and as a result has low water clarity Set water quality goals as a community of swimmers, farmers, and scientists Create reasonable expectations for use of the lake
- #14 March – frozen ground, rain on snow, snowmelt June – high soil moisture
- #15 Site year sediment average 647 Site 1: 326 Site 4: 112 Site 5: 1046
- #16 All Site Average Dissolved P: 0.84 lbs/acre Total P: 1.6 lbs/acre Site 1: 1.7 Site 4: 1.1 Site 5: 1.4