Prioritizing conservation practice locations for effective water quality improvement using the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)

Authors: A. N., ROHITH - Pennsylvania State University; KARKI, RITESH - University Of Maryland; Veith, Tameria - Tamie; PREISENDANZ, HEATHER - Pennsylvania State University; DUNCAN, JON - Pennsylvania State University; Kleinman, Peter; CIBIN, RAJ - Pennsylvania State University

Submitted to: Journal of Environmental Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/31/2023
Publication Date: 11/15/2023
Citation: Rohith, A. N., Karki, R., Veith, T.L., Preisendanz, H., Duncan, J.M., Kleinman, P.J., Cibin, R. 2024. Prioritizing conservation practice locations for effective water quality improvement using the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Journal of Environmental Management. 349:119514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119514.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119514

Interpretive Summary: The use and placement of conservation management within agricultural watersheds is important in helping to prevent sediment and nutrients from leaching the farm fields. We evaluated an extension-level. management selection tool with a more detailed research-level, water quality simulation model to see if we could see ways to improve the extension-level tool. We found that the tool does accurately identify locations for placing management, but since it does not prioritize the locations it may be difficult for watershed planners to know which locations should be treated first. We created a prioritization method to help determine which locations should be treated based on the amount of treatment money available.

Technical Abstract: Adopting agricultural conservation practices (CPs) is critical to attaining desired water quality goals. Where CPs are placed within a watershed directly impacts how well they function in improving water quality. The NRCS Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) is a tool developed to identify potential locations within a target watershed where CPs could be placed based on landscape characteristics. An efficient approach for prioritizing the implementation of the CPs suggested by ACPF that considers pollution hotspots and cost-effectiveness would better help decision makers. Here, we develop and demonstrate such an approach by applying ranking techniques to a combination of ACPF output, average annual load estimates from the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), and published CP reduction efficiencies and installation costs. Multiple CPs prioritization scenarios were evaluated and compared based on reductions in total sediment load, yield, and unit cost. The methodology was demonstrated in the Conewago and Mahantango watersheds in Pennsylvania, US, for grassed waterways (GWW) and water and sediment control basins (WASCOB). Prioritizing erosion hot spots based on both sediment yield reduction and unit cost met a hypothetical user-established sediment reduction goal for the least cost. Although this approach is demonstrated in two case study watersheds and only for sediment loss reduction, it is applicable for any location or contaminant for which similar input variables can be provided, thereby providing a means for prioritizing the results of ACPF for implementation in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S.