It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Measuring Results ARS Perspective E. John Sadler Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research Unit USDA-ARS, Columbia MO

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Political Versus Scientific Effectiveness Focus Single IssueMulti Issues PoliticalScientific Boundaries Political Units Bio-Physical Boundaries Drivers Policy Driven Science Driven Scale Simple ScalingComplex Scaling Criteria

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Traditional Perspective on Achieving Effectiveness Conservation Policy Behavior Change Program Tools Environment Impacts Jurisdiction, Funding Nature, Implementation Adoption ∑farms/practices Media Specific, e.g., T/A/Y/$

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Behavioral - Biophysical Interaction Environmental Vulnerability Conservation Behavior ResilientVulnerable A Log Normal Distribution ExcellentPoor % Area % Cases A Log Normal Distribution This distribution is well understood This distribution is not well recognized

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Where are the Greatest Potential Gains in Conservation Effectiveness? Resilient Vulnerable ExcellentPoor Biophysical Zero Behavior HighestLittle Very Little

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO What ARS can do Basic science –New fundamental knowledge Applied science –Use knowledge to solve problems Long-term studies –Instrumented watersheds Integrative methods –Encode knowledge into decision aids/models

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO What ARS can do Point scale Plot scale (~1 acre) Field scale (50-80 acres) Goodwater Creek (27 sq miles) Long Branch of Salt (180 sq miles) Mark Twain Lake basin (2400 sq miles)

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Bradford grass buffer study C 4 Grasses Fescue + Hedge

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO MSEA Plots (and field) Walls and flumes

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Weir and automatic sampler N D A B C E Weather Station

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Goodwater Creek Watershed Surface water hydrology –~35-yr record –Sediment –Weather –Water table depth Water quality –~15-yr record –Nutrients –Pesticides –Surface and Ground water ▲Weirs ● Rain gauges   Weather station

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Weir 11 in Goodwater Creek

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Mark Twain Reservoir 3 8-digit Hydrologic Units –North Fork Salt River –Middle-South Fork Salt River –Lower Salt River Basin (part) digit HUA’s Well-equipped with USGS gauging stations ~2400 sq miles in area Surface runoff a major concern ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO My View of Main Points Political contention for funds forces research to consider and measure real benefits Economic productivity is foundation for conservation Better knowledge of processes and contexts is fundamental Erosion, once main, then not, rises again Spatial variation is key to targeting vulnerable areas, at all scales

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO How do we need to change? Complex problems across landscapes, across farming enterprises, and across conflicting objectives require integrated, multidisciplinary teams to solve whole problems Conflicting objectives require many important decisions about priority In addition to our colleagues, we must be able to convince skeptics

It’s the Water Workshop, Hannibal MO Contact information John Sadler –