Engineering Commons^™

Watershed Management Technique To Control Sediment Yield In Agriculturally Dominated Areas, John W. Nicklow, Misgana K. Muleta

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Non-point source pollution is recognized internationally as a critical environmental problem. In Illinois, soil erosion from agricultural lands is the major source of such pollution. The erosion process, which has been accelerated by human activity, tends to reduce crop productivity and leads to subsequent problems from deposition on farmlands and in water bodies. Comprehensive watershed management, however, can be used to protect these natural resources. In this study, a discrete time optimal control methodology and computational model are developed for determining land use and management alternatives that minimize sediment yield from agriculturally-dominated watersheds. The solution methodology is based on an …