Nutrient Management and Edge of Field Monitoring Conference December 1-3, 2015 Memphis, TN

1. Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
Measuring Progress Towards HTF
Goals
1

2. Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
IOWA NUTRIENT REDUCTION STRATEGY
BACKGROUND
• NPS and PS communities working together for common goal
• ~36M acres in Iowa ~90% in agricultural use, ~24M acres in
row crops
• 99 major municipalities and 31 industries
• Feasibility studies, including monitoring.
• How to track and document progress?
• Collective effort of mgmt and practice installation
• Measurement coordinator

3. Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
IOWA NUTRIENT REDUCTION STRATEGY
BACKGROUND
Science
Nonpoint
Source
Point
Source
NRS
surveys
measures
science
team
WQ
monitoring
LGU SERA
46
baselines
INRC
extension
education
WQI
HTF
WIRB ‐319
field days
partnerships
funding
education
stormwater/onsi
te WW
outreach
partnerships
feasibility
studies
trading
plant
monitoring
RCPP
CRP‐EQIP

4. Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
4
Nitrogen moves primarily as nitrate-N with water Phosphorus moves primarily with eroded soil
Nitrogen
Practices
Phosphorus
Practices

5. Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
Measuring Progress
• First report beginning to transition to logic model
– nutrientstrategy.iastate.edu/documents
• Continue to advance data collection and reporting
• Existing sources for data collection, potential for improvement, start
from scratch

6. Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
Inputs
• Investments to influence change in attitudes, land use/practices, and
water monitoring.
– Resources for technical assistance
– Financial assistance
– Private/Public Sector
• Over $100M in state/federal $
• Does not include ~$220M in CRP
• Does not include landowner $
• Better distinguish FA vs. TA, etc.
• Additional Examples:
– NGOs
– Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance
– Iowa Nutrient Research & Education Council
– Other industry/company led efforts

7. Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
Human/Social Indicators
• Investments from “Inputs” to document changes in human attitudes,
perception and barriers to implementation/engagement
– Track over time, improve responsiveness
• Develop programming and actively engage in breaking down barriers
• i.e. Cover crops: crop insurance, seeding methods, etc.
• Other Examples below:
Cover crops can reduce
nitrogen and phosphorus losses
Source: 2010, 2014 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll
There is rarely enough time
between harvest and winter
to justify the use of cover
crops

8. Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
Land Use/Practices
• Measure the collective effort of practices and management regardless
of source and change over time
• Public database resources: FSA, NRCS, EPA, IDALS, DNR, etc.
• Private sector partnerships, surveys, other data collection mechanisms
• Example: NT/Conservation Tillage
– NT from <800k acres in 1987 to over 5.6M acres in 2008, over 12.7M acres in NT
or MT systems in Iowa.
– What were the leading components to this shift? Conservation compliance,
improved planter attachments, herbicide resistant crops, others.

9. Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
Water Monitoring/Load Reductions
• Basis of the Nutrient Reduction
Strategy
• Coordinated effort to identify and
report monitoring efforts in Iowa
• Various scales of monitoring
• Calculated/measured load
reductions
• Progress over time

10. Iowa Water Quality Initiative
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & LAND STEWARDSHIP
Summary
– Develop new and expanded frameworks to track progress, beyond ambient water
quality monitoring
– Public/private template for gathering better baseline data and tracking load
reductions resulting from conservation practice adoption
– Track aggregate practice adoption levels
– Report calculated/modeled load reductions from practice adoption