This program is just one example of an integrated Research, Education and Extension project that has positively impacted water quality. Please check back periodically for other highlighted programs.
Experimental Manipulation of Entire Watersheds through Best Management Practices (BMPs): Nutrient Fluxes, Fate, Transport and Biotic Responses
Runoff from agricultural lands containing soil and nutrients poses a potential threat to water quality. The environmental effects of agricultural runoff on surface water bodies, including eutrophication and sedimentation, are serious local, regional and national issues. A dilemma for governmental leaders in agricultural areas is that their most important economic industry, agriculture, may also be the cause of environmental degradation. For farmers, difficulties are further exacerbated by the high profile increase of governmental regulation on agricultural operations. The agricultural industry needs scientific evidence that they are capable of being part of the solution not just part of the problem.
Conesus Lake is the smallest of the Finger Lakes in New York State. Its 70 square mile watershed contains seven municipalities and is a source of drinking water to about 15,000 residents inside and outside of the watershed. As of 1999, about one-half of the land use within the Conesus Lake watershed was agricultural. The lake is used recreationally by many for swimming, boating, fishing and aesthetic enjoyment.
The members of the agriculture community that farm the
hills above Conesus Lake are also concerned land
stewards.
The Conesus
Lake Watershed Group (CLWG) was formed in 1999, and includes
members from different areas of the agricultural community
such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS),
Livingston County Soil and Water Conservation District, the
Farm Service Agency, and the Conesus Lake Watershed Inspector,
as well as members from the Livingston
County 
Health
and Planning Departments, Cornell
Cooperative Extension and
the State Universities of New York at
Brockport and
Geneseo .
In
2001 the CLWG worked together to develop a research plan
that blends the needs of the agricultural community, the
lake community, and managers to address non-point source
pollution from agricultural land use. A collaboration among
all groups within the CLWG with SUNY Brockport as the lead
institution, this multi-dimensional
project represents
an integrated approach of academics, extension and farming
interests to conduct hypothesis-based research
at the watershed level. The project will examine the effectiveness
of Best Management Practices (BMPs) at mitigating non-point
sources of nutrient and soil loss.
The goals of the Conesus Lake Project
are to:
Demonstrate,
through the experimental
watershed approach 
,
that implementation of BMPs in agriculturally dominated
watersheds will preserve soil and reduce nutrient loss
from a series
of subwatersheds;
Evaluate
the impact of instituted BMPs by considering the
impacts on the downstream lake community at the
watershed scale; and
Evaluate
fate and transport of nutrients over space and time
To determine the effect that implemented management plans have on soil and nutrient retention within the watershed, total farm planning and implementation of at least one BMP occurred in experimental watersheds. BMPs included the elimination of winter manure practices in highly erodable and hydrologically sensitive areas and the use of gully plugs to decrease soil erosion.
The project utilizes the experimental
watershed approach ,
where BMPs are implemented in a number of experimental
watersheds. Soil and nutrient monitoring results from
experimental watersheds are then compared to results
from control watersheds where BMPs have not been implemented.
Small experimental subwatersheds (33 to 325 ha) were
chosen for this study because they are predominantly
in agriculture (over 70%) and are farmed by only one
or two landowners. This approach ensures that any effects
on downstream systems (stream, stream mouths and nearshore
of the lake)
will be a result of implemented BMPs; that is, results
will not be confounded by other land use practices often
observed in large watershed approaches.
Observable impacts and outputs of this project to date include:
A demonstration by the CLWG and the Finger Lakes community
of the effectiveness of implemented BMPs, allowing regional
policy
makers and
managers to develop optimal strategies for improving land
usage in watersheds while significantly improving water
quality and decreasing the abundance of nuisance plant
species in downstream ecosystems.
Significant
decreases in particulate forms of nutrients and a 94%
decrease in soil loss during the fall season.
Significant
decreases in phosphorus, nitrate and total Kjeldahl nitrogen
losses to the watershed as a result of changes in
manure application on a collaborating farm. This farm will
be featured in the Northeast Dairy News in an article that
emphasizes cost savings of about $5000 from reduced fertilizer
purchases and improved manure management while maintaining
crop yields.
Significant
reductions in total coliform bacteria and the percent cover
of metaphyton near experimental stream mouths.
A
session, hosted by the CLWG, on the manipulations of watersheds
at the 47th Annual conference for the International Association
of Great Lakes Research.
An extension
brochure produced
by Nathan Herendeen of Cornell Cooperative Extension and
distributed to regional agricultural
groups.
A project
website that
disseminates outreach information, scientific presentations,
up-to-date hydrologic data from
seven watersheds, and other information related to the Conesus
Lake Project.
For more information on the Conesus Lake
Watershed Manipulation and papers about project results,
view the project description on the NIFA Current Research
Information System here ,
visit the project
website or
contact Dr.
Joseph Makarewicz of SUNY at Brockport.
