Water Resource Management Commons^™

Remnant Vegetation Inventory On The Southern Agricultural Areas Of Western Australia., G R. Beeston, G Mlodowski, A Sanders, D True

Resource management technical reports

Remnant vegetation mapping and its incorporation into a Geographical Information System (GIS) data base is the first stage in an overall documentation and promotion of conservation of remnant vegetation in Western Australia. The primary objective of this project being to determine the amount, distribution and regional location of native vegetation remaining on private land in the agricultural area of south-west Western Australia.

Kimberley Landcare Teachers Resource Kit. Cross Curriculum Resources For Upper Primary And Lower Secondary Students, Carolyn Davey, Philip Belfrage

Natural resources published reports

The project has been funded by the National Landcare Program and administered by the Department of Agriculture.

The project was established to improve community awareness and education of landcare and management issues in the Kimberley.

The Kimberley has a diverse and often fragile environment that requires careful management. To care for this land we need to understand the dynamics of its environment, appreciate how important the land is to us and recognise how our interactions effect all components.

The resources in the kit will provide the understandings needed for the development of lifestyles that integrate knowledge and appreciation of the …

Miscellaneous Publication 39/94 - Horticulture On The Swan Coastal Plain - A Study Of Grower Concerns, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia, Water Authority, Western Australia, Csiro, Australia

Horticulture published reports

This study reports on issues, concerns and desired actions expressed in 60 interviews with people directly involved in horticulture on the Swan Coastal Plain in the region between Gingin and Mandurah. I stress that in compiling this report every effort has been made to avoid biasing or changing the information provided by growers.

These interviews were conducted over ten days during April 1994.

The study also presents information on what is currently being done to address some of these concerns by the Department of Agriculture and the Water Authority of Western Australia as well as other agencies and organisations and …

Use Of Riparian Vegetated Filter Strips To Reduce Nitrate And Fecal Contamination In Surface Water, Mark S. Coyne, Robert L. Blevins, Rebecca A. Gilfillen

KWRRI Research Reports

This research assessed fecal bacteria trapping in surface runoff by grass filters and their potential to enhance NO₃^- removal via denitrification. Grass filter strips 9.0 m long trapped over 99% of the soil in surface runoff in 1992. Fecal coliform removal was less than 75%. In 1993, 9.0 and 4.5 m grass filter strips trapped 99 and 95% of the sediment, respectively. Fecal coliform trapping efficiency was 90% in 9.0 m grass filters and 75% in 4.5 m filters. Fecal streptococci trapping efficiency was 77% in 9.0 m grass filters and only 56% in 4.5 m filters. Fecal …

Phosphorus Immobilization In Poultry Litter And Litter-Amended Soils With Aluminum, Calcium And Iron Amendments, D. M. Miller, P. A. Moore Jr., T. C. Daniels

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Arkansas produces approximately one billion broilers each year. Phosphorous (P) runoff from fields receiving poultry litter is believed to be one of the primary factors affecting water quality in Northwest Arkansas. Poultry litter contains approximately 20 g P kg-1, of which about 2 g P kg-1 is water soluble. Soils that have received repeated heavy applications of litter may have water soluble P contents of as high as 10 mg P Kg-1 soil. The objective of this study was to determine if soluble P levels could be reduced in poultry litter and litter-amended soils with Al,Ca, and/or Fe amendments. Poultry …

Bulletin 4279 - Streamlining - An Environmentally Sustainable Drainage Network For The Swan Coastal Plain (Peel-Harvey Catchment), Garry Heady, Neil Guise

Bulletins 4000 -

Community Catchment Centre Pinjarra

A network of over 1400 kilometres of drains and modified natural waterways constructed by the Public Works Department criss-crosses the Peel-Harvey catchment. There are also over 3300 kilometres of minor drains and natural waterways in this same region.

The expansion of agriculture relied on this extensive drainage network, which was designed to ensure rapid drainage of the region. Unfortunately there was little regard to future environmental consequences.

Along with drainage water, these same drains now carry high loads of silt and nutrients. Many of the drains are also degraded and require expensive maintenance annually.

The Prediction Of Sediment And Nutrient Transport In The Buffalo River Watershed Using A Geographic Information System, H. D. Scott, P. A. Smith

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The Buffalo River was established by Congress in 1972 as the first National River in the United States. It is one of the few remaining free-flowing streams in northern Arkansas. The river originates in the higher elevations of the Boston Mountains in Newton County, and generally flows northeastward, intersecting the Springfield and Salem Plateaus as it drops from approximately 2000 feet in the headwaters to around 500 feet at the confluence with the White River in Marion County. It is considered by many to be one of Arkansas' greatest natural treasures, and therefore , there is strong interest in protecting …

Correlating Soil Test Phosphorus Losses In Runoff, D. H. Pote, T. C. Daniel, P. A. Moore Jr., D. J. Nichols, D. R. Edwards, A. N. Sharpley

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Phosphorus in agricultural runoff is often a major cause of accelerated eutrophication of lakes and streams. Previous research has indicated that the amount of dissolved P (DP) in runoff is directly related to P content of the surface soil. Decades of fertilizer application at rates exceeding those of crop uptake have elevated soil test P (STP) levels in areas of intensive crop and livestock production, making this the major source of DP loss in runoff. The objective of our experiment was to relate STP content of Captina silt loam to P concentration and loss in runoff, and determine which STP …

Assessment Of Effectiveness Of Buffer Zones In Removing Impurites In Runoff From Areas Treated With Poultry Litter, I. Chaubey, D. R. Edwards, T. C. Daniels

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Land application of animal manures (e.g. poultry litter, poultry manure, and swine manure) to pasture and range can lead to runoff quality degradation during storms that occur soon after application. Vegetative filter strips (VFS) have been shown to reduce pollution in runoff from row-cropped areas but have not been extensively studied in pasture and range settings. This research involved characterizing performance of fescue VFS in improving quality of runoff from pasture land areas treated with poultry litter and swine manure. The VFS were found to be quite effective in reducing off-site transport of ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), …

Bulletin 4278 - How To Use Wide Furrow Sowing For Improved Crop Production On Water Repellent Sand, Paul Blackwell, Grant Morrow, Tony Webster

Bulletins 4000 -

Wide furrow sowing is a method for successfully establishing crops of lupins or cereals on non-wetting sands, and improving crop establishment on non-repellent sands. The same principles can be used to assist establishment of fodder shrubs and long-term pasture (e.g. tagasaste and Rhodes grass).

No-Tillage Sowing Decreases Water Erosion On Loamy Soils And Increases Earthworm Activity, Kevin Bligh

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

No-tillage sowing places seed and fertiliser in the soil without loosening all of the topsoil. Soil is cultivated only in the sown rows, leaving the inter-row areas largely undisturbed.

No-tillage sowing reduces both wind and water erosion. Soil structure is generally improved, and pasture regeneration is increased because seed is not buried too deeply for re-establishment.

Two long-term trials were establis_hed on loamy soils to determine effects of tillage and cropping on runoff and soil loss.

Nutrient Content Of Runoff Water From Rice Fields, C. E. Wilson Jr., P. A. Moore Jr., R. J. Norman, B. R. Wells

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Current perception is that nutrient runoff from croplands is a significant contributor to poor water quality in some areas. While extensive research has been conducted to survey and ameliorate this problem for several upland crops, little work has been done to evaluate the problem with flooded rice (Oryza sativa, L.) soils. Since rice production utilizes a major portion of the total irrigation water usage for certain areas, it is important to understand the contribution of rice production to non-point source N and P in surface water. Several production fields were selected to evaluate the concentrations of nutrients in the floodwater …

The Influence Of Reservoir Basin Morphometry On Phytoplankton Community Structure, Richard L. Meyer, G. Keith Trost

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The research protocol was designed to compare three reservoirs with similar physical environments but different morphometry. Three reservoirs on the western edge of the Ozark uplift were selected because of their similar substrate and climatic condition. The reservoirs primarily differed in morphometry. Two of the reservoirs were of identical size, Bob Kidd and Prairie Groves Lakes, but of different configuration, semicircular and linear, respectively. The bifurcated lake, Lincoln Lake, was of smaller size. Each lake is dimictic. Each of the lakes were nitrate-N limited while soluble reactive phosphorus-P is available and not restricting the growth of phytoplankton. Although the pattern …

Prediction And Management Of Sediments Load And Phosporus In The Beaver Reservoir Watershed Using A Geographic Information System, J. M. Mckimmey, H. D. Scott

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

A study was conducted to compile a GIS database for the Beaver Reservoir Watershed and then use the database to run the Universal Soil Loss Equation and the Phosphorus Index Model on the War Eagle Creek Watershed, a portion of the Beaver Reservoir Watershed database. Characterization of the spat i a 1 properties of the primary attributes compiled for the watershed were reported. In addition, water quality samples taken from War Eagle Creek were analyzed for relationships across the watershed. Erosion in the watershed was lower than expected with well vegetated and fertilized pastures contributing to the reduction of annual …

Effect Of Drying On Cyromazine Loss From Surface-Applied Caged-Layer Manure, T. C. Daniel, D. H. Pote, D. R. Edwards

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

In Arkansas, much of the environmental concern related to water quality has focused on the high volume of poultry fecal waste spread on the surf ace of local pastures to fertilize forage grass. Cyromazine (N-cyclopropyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6- triamine), a feed-through larvicide used to control house flies (Musca domestica), is often a component of caged-layer manure. Cyromazine is quite soluble and stable in water, and previous research has shown that it can be readily washed from pasture plots by intense rainfall. Therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate increased drying time as a best management practice technique for reducing cyromazine runoff losses from …

Computer Simulation Model Calibration And Validation For Prediction Of Water Quality Impacts Of Poultry Waste Disposal, D. R. Edwards, T. C. Daniel

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Runoff and water quality data collected from two pairs of grazed fields in northwestern Arkansas were analyzed to support efforts to model runoff quality from areas receiving poultry manure and other fertilizer sources. The monitoring period described in this report was September 1, 1991 to April 30, 1993. One of each pair of fields was fertilized with inorganic fertilizer, and the other received either poultry litter or manure. Losses of fertilizer constituents were quite low from an agronomic standpoint, ranging from approximately 2-11 kg N/ha/year and 0.5-4.1 kg P04-P/ha/year. Annual losses of fertilizer constituents were dominated by only a small …

The Hydrology Of Shallow And Deep Aquifers In Relation To Secondary Soil Salinisation In Southwestern Australia, Richard J. George, Arthur J. Conacher

Natural Resources Research Articles

Results are reported from detailed research which has been carried out since 1984 on several Western Australian wheatbelt catchments, ranging in size from 12 ha to 1000 km2, in order to quantify the nature and roles of groundwater aquifers in relation to secondary salinisation. Secondary soil salinisation in the semi-arid wheatbelt has increased by 600% over the past 34 years to 440 000 ha, and is likely to increase by at least another 500% in the next 30-50 years. Changes in groundwater hydrology following the replacement of the native, woodland vegetation with agricultural crops and pastures during this century, have …

Conservation For Production : Kings Rocks Catchment Report, William Oldfield

Agriculture reports

The aim of this report is to bring together current information on the land and ideas which will provide landholders of the King Rocks catchment group with a basis to make more informed decisions about managing the land. The report contains information on how the landscape was formed, how areas become degraded, what are the present recommended ways of fixing land degradation and what are the most productive means of farming the land.

Bulletin 4274 - Tree Planting On The High Rainfall Coastal Plain, Don Bennett, Richard George

Bulletins 4000 -

Careful planning can mean the difference between the success or failure of a tree planting program . Healthy , well-e stablished trees stand a better chance of survival, grow faster and are more resistant to insect attack. The need for time-consuming watering in summer is also eliminated.

The high rainfall coastal plain extends from Perth to Busselton and inland to the Darling Scarp. It receives about 800 to 1000 mm annual rainfall.

Site preparation is ideally started in summer. For a winter planting, decide before March where to plant, which varieties and how many trees to plant. Early planning allows …

Arkansas Agricultural Chemical Ground-Water Management Plan, Gerald King, Darryl Little, Tim Jessup, Charles Armstrong

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The Arkansas Agricultural Chemical Ground-Water Management Plan (SMP) is based on the Draft State Pesticide Ground- Water Management Plan Guidance and The Pesticides and Ground-Water Protection Strategy prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The need for a plan to protect ground water from contamination by agricultural chemicals and agents arises from evidence nationwide that using these chemicals can, in some instances, lead to contamination. In February 1988, EPA proposed a strategy to regulate certain pesticides by prohibiting their use in areas vulnerable to leaching unless a state develops and implements an acceptable management plan. The advantage of a …

Arkansas Agricultural Chemical Ground-Water Management Plan - Appendices, Gerald King, Darryl Little, Tim Jessup, Charles Armstrong

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The Arkansas Agricultural Chemical Ground-Water Management Plan (SMP) is based on the Draft State Pesticide Ground- Water Management Plan Guidance and The Pesticides and Ground-Water Protection Strategy prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The need for a plan to protect ground water from contamination by agricultural chemicals and agents arises from evidence nationwide that using these chemicals can, in some instances, lead to contamination. In February 1988, EPA proposed a strategy to regulate certain pesticides by prohibiting their use in areas vulnerable to leaching unless a state develops and implements an acceptable management plan. The advantage of a …

Gis Characterization Of Beaver Watershed, H. D. Scott, J. M. Mckimmey

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Beaver Reservoir watershed is located in Northwest Arkansas including portions of Madison, Washington, Benton, Carroll, Franklin and Crawford counties. This watershed is important to the Northwest Arkansas region because it supplies most of the drinking water for the major towns and cities, and several rural water systems. The watershed consists of 308,971 ha with elevations ranging from approximately 341 m to 731 m above mean sea level. It includes the Springfield Plateau and the Boston Mountains provinces within the Ozark Plateau physiographic region. There are approximately 581 km of streams, 532 km of shore line, and 3712 km of roads …

Evaluation Of The Water Quality Impacts Of Land Application Of Poultry Litter, T. C. Daniels, D. R. Edwards

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Evaluating the effect of land application of animal waste on water quality is fraught with inherent variability due to differing infiltration rates, slope, rainfall intensity and etc . Simulated rainfall technology has been used in erosion research for decades. Generally, this technology is used on plots of sufficient size (25 x 5 m) to develop rill and interrill erosion. The object of this investigation was to adapt and modify existing rainfall simulation technology used in soil erosion research for use in evaluating water quality impacts of land application of animal waste, and to test, evaluate and demonstrate it's scientific validity. …

Effect Of Land Application Of Poultry Waste On Pesticide Loss, T. C. Daniel, D. R. Edwards

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The poultry industry in Arkansas is a large, concentrated, growing industry that produces a high volume of fecal waste. Most of this waste is surface applied as pasture fertilizer. Pesticides are commonly used in the poultry industry for fly and litter beetle contro land are often a component of the surface-applied poultry waste. No information exists in the scientific literature regarding the transport of this pesticide component to nearby water supplies.Our research focused on cyromazine, a feed-through larvicide used to control flies in caged-layer hen houses. Tetrachlorvinphos and carbaryl are also used in poultry waste, but these pesticides have a …

Effects Of Waterlogging On Crop And Pasture Production In The Upper Great Southern, Western Australia, J F. Wallace, G A. Wheaton, D J. Mcfarlane

Technical Bulletins

Separate estimates of the effect of waterlogging on cereal yields were made using rainfall and crop yield statistics, and remote sensing. Both methods showed that waterlogging costs tens of millions of dollars each year in lost crop production in the Upper Great Southern Statistical Division. The costs will be over $100 m in wet years. Losses in pasture production are likely to be of a similar magnitude, but are harder to quantify.

Estimation Of Relative Pesticide Leaching In Nebraska Soils, P. J. Shea, L. N. Mielke, W. D. Nettleton

Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station: Historical Research Bulletins

A computational procedure (RIPS, Relative Index for Pesticides and Soils) was developed as a conservative estimator of pesticide leaching and groundwater contamination based on soil and pesticide properties, and water table depth. RIPS values offer guidance in pesticide selection and identify situations where a detailed site-specific evaluation should be conducted.

Results Of Stubble Research In Western Australia, Michael Perry, Ron Jarvis, Mel Mason, David Tennant

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Few farmers would question the desirability of retaining stubbles, both for control of erosion by wind and water, and to return organic matter to the soil. While the present debate is focused on the short term management of stubbles, longer term effects also need to be considered.

The Department of Agriculture has several long-running trials intended to measure long term effects.

How To Reduce Spending On Land Conservation, Tim Negus

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Heavy spending on capital works for land conseroation is usually out of the question in the present financial climate, but the recession does not mean that landcare must be abandoned. There are many aspects of landcare that involve little or no extra cost. Soil conseroationist Tim Negus discusses them in this article.

Kinetics And Mechanisms Of Atrazine Adsorption And Desorption In Soils Under No-Till And Conventional Management, V. P. Evangelou, W. W. Witt, E. Portig, Mike Barrett

KWRRI Research Reports

Both soils (Maury silt loam and Sadler) exhibited three apparent mechanisms of atrazine adsorption. The first two mechanisms were very rapid (10 minutes) and were assigned to soil-clay surface adsorption reactions via hydrogen bonding. The quantity of atrazine involved in these two reactions for the 0.5 mg/1 solution atrazine varied, depending on the soil, from 67 μg/100 g clay to 219 μg/100 g clay. The reason there were two possible atrazine sinks in this range of atrazine adsorption was believed to be the presence of two types of reactive surfaces, the clay inorganic phase and the organic carbon phase. The …

Determination Of Optimal Timing Of Poultry Waste Disposal By Meteorological, Hydrological, And Water Quality Modeling Techniques, D. R. Edwards, T. C. Daniel

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Approximately one million Mg of broiler litter were generated in conjunction with Arkansas' 1989 broiler production. Common practices for disposal of the waste have the potential to damage the quality of downstream rivers and lakes. This possibility is enhanced due to the concentration of broiler production in areas of the state with shallow soils, steep slopes, and limited suitable disposal area. Since the risk of pollution is greatest immediately following disposal and increases with rainfall depth and intensity, adverse water quality impacts may be mitigated by timing the application to coincide with low probability of surface losses of the nutrients …