Selecting an Agricultural Water Quality
Project
The Rural Clean Water Program
Experience
Restoring or protecting water resources from nonpoint sources of
pollution is critical for good water quality. Watershed-level
projects are ideal for improving or protecting a water resource
from a total watershed perspective. However, controlling nonpoint
source (NPS) pollution generally requires funding from public
appropriations. To assure the best use of scarce financial
resources, it is important to select NPS pollution control
projects that are the most viable and can succeed in either
protecting threatened or restoring impaired water resources.
A successful NPS pollution control project does not happen
randomly. Nonpoint source pollution control project selection
is a difficult and time-consuming task. Projects need to be
selected carefully based on an analysis of the technical and
social factors within the watershed of concern. Because
encouraging feedback is essential to project participants, the
watershed community, and policy makers, watershed projects
that have a high probability for reversing a water quality use
impairment, or that contain highly valued water resources
threatened by NPS pollution, should be given high priority.
The technical factors involved in the planning and completion
of a successful project:
-
Accurate identification and documentation of the water
quality problems or impairments;
-
Analysis of the appropriate types and quantities of
land-based treatment in the critical areas (areas
contributing the most pollutants);
-
Selection of a water quality problem on which significant
progress can realistically be achieved within the time
frame and monetary constraints of the project; and
-
Monitoring to document changes in land treatment and water
quality.
Social factors that influence the effectiveness of any NPS
pollution control project include:
-
Commitment by the community and producers to controlling
NPS pollution; nImplementation strategies selected by the
sponsoring agencies and the agencies' ability to work
together; and
-
Multi-year funding sufficient to offer technical
assistance, information and education, and cost-share for
best management practice (BMP) implementation to ensure a
high level of participation in the critical areas.
Many of the 21 projects that participated in the Rural Clean Water Program (RCWP) were
successful in reducing the impacts of NPS pollution (Gale et al.,
1993). Each of these successful projects was able to uniquely
combine the necessary technical and social factors that comprise
an effective NPS pollution control project. Specific examples and
lessons learned from RCWP on the selection of workable NPS
pollution control projects are presented below, along with
examples of specific RCWP projects.
One of the most critical factors in the evaluation of a potential
NPS pollution control project is the development of a
well-defined water quality problem statement. In order to write a
problem statement, the water quality problem must be correctly
identified and clearly documented. A water quality problem
statement should describe, at a minimum, the following:
-
The water resource(s) of concern;
-
The water use impairment(s) or threatened impairment(s);
and
-
The pollutant or pollutants, the sources of each pollutant,
and the magnitude of the pollutant(s) causing the water use
impairment.
The Taylor Creek - Nubbin Slough(Florida)
RCWP project has an especially well-defnied WQ problem
statement.
A water quality problem statement should be used as the basis
for selecting NPS pollution control projects. If all factors
of the water quality problem statement are not clearly
delineated, then the project should not be chosen.
Clearly defined and realistic water quality objectives and
goals improve a project's probability of success. The water
quality problem statement should be used as the basis for
setting objectives and goals for both water quality and land
treatment. The goals and objectives should be directly related
to the water quality impairment or conditions threatening
designated uses of the water resource.
BMP Implementation Strategy
Best management practices (BMPs) are essential for any nonpoint
source pollution control project. One of the criteria for project
selection should be the technical merits of the BMP
implementation plan, which should be integrally tied to water
quality impacts and project goals. Proposed plans must include
critical area delineation within the watershed. A critical area
should be delineated to identify and encompass the major
pollutant sources that have a direct impact on the impaired water
resource. Personnel in the St. Alban's Bay
(Vermont) RCWP project used four criteria for determining
critical areas.. Planned BMP implementation should be targeted to
the critical area and primary pollutants. The BMPs proposed for
the critical area should be selected so that the most effective
system of BMPs to reduce a particular pollutant is chosen. The
system of BMPs should address both source reduction from the
major pollutant sources and pollutant delivery reduction by
minimizing transport of the pollutant to the water resource of
concern. The project team should also clearly state (set a goal
for) the anticipated percent of BMP implementation (coverage)
planned for the critical area. Selection of recommended BMP
systems and estimation of the coverage necessary to accomplish a
documentable water quality change are important for two reasons:
1) to estimate the effectiveness of the BMP systems to meet water
quality goals and 2) to determine if proposed appropriations are
sufficient to fund the necessary types and numbers of BMPs.
Water Quality Problems That Can Be Adequately Addressed
Several factors establish the economic and technical feasibility
of controlling water quality problems: assessment of the size of
the critical areas, sources of pollutants, extent of BMPs needed
in the critical area, cost per participant, and cost per acre.
The size of the selected watershed project should allow for a
large portion of the critical area to be treated. Small
watersheds (critical area of roughly 30,000 acres or less) are
easier to treat and monitor and should, therefore, be given
special consideration in the selection process.
The project time frame must be long enough to facilitate
adequate comparison between pre- and post-project conditions
in order to evaluate the water quality improvements.
Multi-year projects (usually 5 to 10 years) should be given
priority in the project selection process. The Lake Tholocco RCWP project was a good
example of a small treatable watershed. Nonpoint source
pollution programs restricted to addressing agricultural
sources should avoid watersheds that contain significant
non-agricultural nonpoint sources or point sources because
pollutant loadings from these other sources often mask water
quality changes associated with NPS controls. Other
approaches, such as total watershed management, which include
treating both point sources and all major nonpoint sources of
pollution, can be effective if adequate resources are
available.
Monitoring to Document Changes in Land Treatment, Land Use,
and Water Quality
Water quality and land treatment monitoring plans that are likely
to result in adequate documentation of changes in land treatment,
land use, and water quality should be among the most important
selection criteria applied to experimental watershed projects,
particularly when the goal of the project being selected is to
document both water quality changes and an association between
land management and water quality improvements. Water quality
monitoring can provide important feedback on the effectiveness of
nonpoint source control efforts to project participants, other
citizens, and policy makers. The potential of the project for
meaningful water quality monitoring, including two to three years
of baseline data and evaluation feedback, should also be
carefully considered as part of the project selection process.
The Rock Creek (Idaho) RCWP project
was able to demonstrate the link between land treatment and
changes in water quality due to adequate documentation.
Participation and Community Support
Gaging participation and community support is important when
assessing the probable viability of a NPS pollution control
project. Adequate participation by landowners or farm operators
is essential for project success. Increased community
participation in the Garvin Brook RCWP
project occurred when the focus of the project shifted.
Predicting the likely rate of landowner participation in
advance of project activities, in order to select a NPS
pollution control project, is a difficult task. One good
indicator is how highly valued a water resource is by the
community. Community support helps motivate potential
participants to cooperate. To ensure project participation,
the community and landowners must have a vested interest in
solving the water quality problem. Such an interest is
generally present when the water resource is valued, the
pollutant source is understood, and participants recognize
that they are part of the solution. Benefits from the project
that can serve to increase public support for a project may
include decreased human health threats, improved recreational
use, or improved habitat or natural health of the water
resource.
Another good indicator of potential project participation is
the existence of ongoing (pre-project) grass-root efforts to
protect the water resource.
Institutional Arrangements
Institutional arrangements also affect the potential of a
proposed NPS pollution control project for success. Projects that
have a dedicated staff, positive interaction among agencies and
other groups, cooperative attitudes, well-defined organizational
strategies, and a long-term commitment to the project are
generally more successful at gaining and maintaining producer and
community participation and support. Strong private and public
institutional linages were essential in ensuring the success of
the Tillamook Bay RCWP project. The
organizational strategy should include strong inter-agency
cooperation with clearly outlined roles for each agency. Although
it is difficult to judge the effectiveness of institutional
arrangements prior to project activities, pre-project
institutional arrangements and inter-agency relationships can be
useful indicators of future interactions and should be
investigated prior to project selection.
Funding
Commitment of funds for the full project
period is another important criterion for the selection of a
NPS pollution control project. Nonpoint source pollution control
projects need sufficient funds to effectively address the land
treatment needs based on the size of the critical area and the
severity of the water quality problem to be addressed. In the
RCWP, the goal was to treat 75% of the critical area. For most of
the 21 RCWP projects, funding was sufficient, regardless of the
problem, to support this land treatment goal.
Reliable funding is needed to facilitate long-term planning
and budgeting, both essential components of NPS pollution
control watershed projects, which often require five or more
years to implement. A short funding cycle that does not ensure
full implementation of project activities reduces the
effectiveness of projects. Sufficient time and funds should be
allocated to pre-implementation planning and acquisition of
pre-project data, development of compatible / consistent data
management and evaluation procedures, and selection of the
most appropriate monitoring and modeling activities.
Best management practices are often too expensive for most
agricultural producers to implement. Cost-share funds ease the
economic burden of adopting BMPs. Results from a farm operator
survey (Gale et al., 1993) showed that access to cost-share
money was the primary reason producers participated in the
RCWP. Because the availability of cost-share funds
significantly affects producer participation, one of the
project selection criteria must include adequate funding or
tax credits for BMP implementation.
Participants in NPS pollution control projects need frequent
advice about what type(s) of BMPs to use and how to implement
and manage them. Without a strong technical assistance
component, which includes information and education (I&E),
NPS projects will fail. Although state extension agencies and
the Natural Resource Conservation Service offer these
technical services free of charge, the additional workload
presented by a NPS project necessitates funding for technical
assistance. Additional funds may also be required for I&E
activities designed to inform and educate participants and
citizens about the project. Technical and I&E services
funded through the RCWP transferred important information to
farmers, contributing significantly to project success.
Reference
Gale, J.A., D.E. Line, D.L. Osmond, S.W. Coffey, J. Spooner, J.A.
Arnold, T.J. Hoban, and R.C. Wimberley. 1993. Evaluation of the Experimental
Rural Clean Water Program. NCSU Water Quality Group,
Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, North
Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, (published by U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency) EPA-841- R-93-005, 559p.
Written by
Deanna L. Osmond and Jean Spooner
NCSU Water Quality Group
March 1995
North Carolina
Cooperative Extension Service
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL & LIFE SCIENCES
Distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and
June 30, 1914. Employment and program opportunities are offered
to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, sex,
age, or disability. North Carolina State University, North
Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.
This fact sheet is one of a series of Rural Clean Water Program
Technology Transfer fact sheets prepared by the NCSU Water
Quality Group with support from the Extension Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture (Cooperative Agreement No.
93-EXCA-3-0241).
Copies of the fact sheet series may be requested from:
Publications, NCSU Water Quality Group, Department of
Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Box 7637, North
Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7637, Email:
wq_puborder@ncsu.edu, Fax: 919-515-7448.
