Nutrient and sediment losses from agricultural watersheds impacts aquatic ecosystems and presents risks to environmental and public health. Improving agricultural water quality requires careful planning and producer engagement to encourage voluntary installation of new conservation practices that are effective, and appropriate to each landscape. USDA scientists have developed the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) to provide watershed databases and software tools that can be used to present realistic options for placement of conservation practices that can improve water quality outcomes. High resolution data on land cover, soil survey, and topography are analyzed to identify a suite of conservation practice options to reduce impacts of runoff and subsurface tile drainage on water quality. Results are not prescriptive, but rather are meant to provide options to help identify conservation preferences for each farm. ACPF watershed databases are available online for more than 11,500 small watersheds covering virtually all the Corn Belt. The ACPF includes tools that identify options to control runoff and water erosion, mitigate nutrient losses from tile drainage, store water on the landscape, and enables site-specific riparian analysis and streamside buffer design. Along with watershed databases and the ACPF GIS toolbox, a detailed user manual, and tutorial videos are also available (see www.acpf4watersheds.org). Social research has shown use of ACPF can help engage farmers to become more engaged in watershed improvement projects. The ACPF has been used in watershed planning by conservation districts, state agencies, environmental consulting firms, and several agricultural and environmental organizations.

Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF): A planning approach for agricultural watersheds based on precision conservation

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.