1. Analysis of Conservation Practice
Effectiveness and Producer Adoption
Behavior in the
Jordan Lake Watershed, NC
Deanna Osmond, Dan Line, and Caela O’Connell
NC State University
Dana Hoag, Mazdak Arabi, Ali Tasdighi, and Marzieh Mottalebi
Colorado State University

2. Greensboro
Chapel Hill
Durham
Burlington
JordanLake
Reidsville
Map Produced: R. Austin, D.Osmond
JordanLakeWatershed
0 10 205 Miles
North Carolina State University
Department of Soil Science North Carolina Stateplane, Zone 4901, NAD83 meters
2001Land UseLandCover
Landcover Class
Cultivated
Forest
Pasture
water
Wetland
Developed
Nutrient Load Reductions
required bye state of North
Carolina from the 1997‐
2001 baseline period
• Upper New Hope Sub
Basin: 35% N & 5% P
• Lower New Hope Sub
Basin: 0% N & 0% P
• Haw Sub Basin: 8% N &
5% Phosphorus
Jordan Lake Rules and Land Uses
Trading: urban development reduces
nutrients by trading with agriculture

3. The goal of Analysis of Conservation Practice
Effectiveness and Producer Adoption Behavior in
the Jordan Lake Watershed (North Carolina) is to
add to the conservation effects knowledge base of
watershed-scale impacts of conservation practices
on water resources and producer behavior.

4. Project Research Objectives
Research objectives:
1. Determine through water quality monitoring at a
watershed scale, the effectiveness of conservation
practices at reducing N, P and sediment export from
pasture and cropland.
2. Determine and compare motivators and deterrents for
conservation practice adoption within the two primary
agricultural communities in the watershed: farmers and
ranchers.
3. Model water quality to assess benefits from historical
implementation and projected implementation of
conservation practices, as well as potential trades.
4. Determine optimal water quality trading strategies
allowed by the Jordan Lake Rule and the acceptability of
different strategies to traders in the watershed.

5. Project Extension Objectives
Re objectives:
1. Use the results of the key informant survey along with the
Jordan Lake Watershed Committee stakeholders to design and
target more effective mandatory nutrient management
education to specific audiences that will be delivered by NC
Cooperative Extension.
2. Use and evaluate electronic educational delivery platforms,
such as webinars, to provide mandatory nutrient management
and conservation practice training, as well as to provide
information about nutrient trading, for hobby farmers,
landscapers, and possibly producers in Jordan Lake Watershed
and beyond.
3. Provide information on conservation practice effectiveness and
nutrient trading to the Jordan Lake Oversight Committee, NC
Division of Water Quality, the NC Division of Soil and Water, NC
USDA‐NRCS, the NLEW Committee, and the general public.

6. Project Teaching Objectives
Re objectives:
1. Provide graduate students the opportunity to obtain graduate
level course credits by participating in the development of
extension and educational materials for stakeholders in the
Jordan Lake Basin.
2. Enhance course curricula for “Ecological Engineering
Applications,” an undergraduate course for Biological
Engineering students, and “Environmental Restoration
Implementation,” an undergraduate course for Agricultural and
Environmental Technology students.

7. Project Research Objectives
Research objectives:
1. Determine through water quality monitoring at a
watershed scale, the effectiveness of conservation
practices at reducing N, P and sediment export from
pasture and cropland.
2. Determine and compare motivators and deterrents for
conservation practice adoption within the two primary
agricultural communities in the watershed: farmers and
ranchers.
3. Model water quality to assess benefits from historical
implementation and projected implementation of
conservation practices, as well as potential trades.
4. Determine optimal water quality trading strategies
allowed by the Jordan Lake Rule and the acceptability of
different strategies to traders in the watershed.

8. Paired Watershed Study
• Length of monitoring: 8 years pasture and 6 years cropland
• Determination of treatment sub‐watersheds based on farmer
cooperation
• Pasture conservation practices: exclusion fencing and nutrient
management
• Cropland conservation practice: N management (corn only in a 3
crop, 2 year rotation of corn, wheat, and soybean)
Pasture (C) Pasture (T)
Control and Treatment Pastures
Crop (T) Crop (C)
Control and Treatment Croplands
Pasture Pair Crop Pair

9. Paired Watershed Study:
Pasture Nutrient and Sediment Reduction
Constituent Average Nutrient
Load Both
Watersheds
(kg/ha/yr)
Reduction Due to
Exclusion Fending
(%)
TKN 5.3 48
NOx‐N 1.2 41
NH4‐N 1.3 64
TP 3.0 61
TSS 333 73

10. Project Research Objectives
Research objectives:
1. Determine through water quality monitoring at a
watershed scale, the effectiveness of conservation
practices at reducing N, P and sediment export from
pasture and cropland.
2. Determine and compare motivators and deterrents for
conservation practice adoption within the two primary
agricultural communities in the watershed: farmers and
ranchers.
3. Model water quality to assess benefits from historical
implementation and projected implementation of
conservation practices, as well as potential trades.
4. Determine optimal water quality trading strategies
allowed by the Jordan Lake Rule and the acceptability of
different strategies to traders in the watershed.

11. Farmer Decision Making
• 90 farmers interviewed
• Questions open‐ended: described area farming systems,
conservation practices, nutrient management, water
quality, and willingness to trade
• 92.5% cropland farmers using conservation tillage.
Practice started over 40 years ago.
• 62% pasture‐based farmers using exclusion fencing.
Practice started in mid‐1990s.
• Nutrient management is not viewed as a conservation
practice.
• Disliked nutrient management training.
• Most farmers were very negative about trading as they
thought the development community should meet their
obligations.

12. Project Research Objectives
Research objectives:
1. Determine through water quality monitoring at a
watershed scale, the effectiveness of conservation
practices at reducing N, P and sediment export from
pasture and cropland.
2. Determine and compare motivators and deterrents for
conservation practice adoption within the two primary
agricultural communities in the watershed: farmers and
ranchers.
3. Model water quality to assess benefits from historical
implementation and projected implementation of
conservation practices, as well as potential trades.
4. Determine optimal water quality trading strategies
allowed by the Jordan Lake Rule and the acceptability of
different strategies to traders in the watershed.

13. Watershed Data

14. YEAR 2003
Wet Year
Adj R² = 0.71
Total Nitrogen (TN)
YEAR 2001
Dry Year
Adj R² = 0.94
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0 25 50 75 100
TN Load (lb/ac/yr)
Urban Land Area / Total Watershed
Area (%)
YEAR 2001
Dry Year
Adj R² = 0.79
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0 25 50
TN Load (lb/ac/yr)
Ag Land Area / Total Watershed
Area (%)
YEAR 2003
Wet Year
Adj R² = 0.75

15. SWAT Nutrient Delivery to Jordan Lake:
Baseline vs Current Climate
With and Without Riparian Buffers
Constituent Total Load
(lb)
Constituent Load per
Acre (lb/ac)
Baseline
(1997‐2001)
Current
Climate
NO RB
Current
Climate
W/RB
Total TN Load (lbs) 36,623 58,899 38,405
Total TP load (lbs) 23,345 40,480 18,966
Average TN (lbs/ac) 0.82 1.32 0.86
Average TP (lbs/ac) 0.52 0.91 0.42

16. Project Research Objectives
Research objectives:
1. Determine through water quality monitoring at a
watershed scale, the effectiveness of conservation
practices at reducing N, P and sediment export from
pasture and cropland.
2. Determine and compare motivators and deterrents for
conservation practice adoption within the two primary
agricultural communities in the watershed: farmers and
ranchers.
3. Model water quality to assess benefits from historical
implementation and projected implementation of
conservation practices, as well as potential trades.
4. Determine optimal water quality trading strategies
allowed by the Jordan Lake Rule and the acceptability of
different strategies to traders in the watershed.

17. Marginal Cost of Buffer Installation Relative
to Total Nitrogen Reduced
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
0.0 1000.0 2000.0 3000.0 4000.0 5000.0 6000.0 7000.0 8000.0
MC($)
Reduction (lbs/yr)
Supply (B‐‐>R)
Reduction
(lbs of TN)
#
fields
Marginal Costs
($/lbs TN)
1 1 155
10 ‐‐‐‐ ‐‐‐‐
100 10 327
1000 65 1,011
7,233 1,227 8,916,834
6,000
lbs TN
max

18. Project Extension Objectives
Re objectives:
1. Use the results of the key informant survey along with the
Jordan Lake Watershed Committee stakeholders to design and
target more effective mandatory nutrient management
education to specific audiences that will be delivered by NC
Cooperative Extension.
2. Use and evaluate electronic educational delivery platforms,
such as webinars, to provide mandatory nutrient management
and conservation practice training, as well as to provide
information about nutrient trading, for hobby farmers,
landscapers, and possibly producers in Jordan Lake Watershed
and beyond.
3. Provide information on conservation practice effectiveness and
nutrient trading to the Jordan Lake Oversight Committee, NC
Division of Water Quality, the NC Division of Soil and Water, NC
USDA‐NRCS, the NLEW Committee, and the general public.

19. Project Extension Objectives
Re objectives:
1. Use the results of the key informant survey along with the
Jordan Lake Watershed Committee stakeholders to design and
target more effective mandatory nutrient management
education to specific audiences that will be delivered by NC
Cooperative Extension.
2. Use and evaluate electronic educational delivery platforms,
such as webinars, to provide mandatory nutrient management
and conservation practice training, as well as to provide
information about nutrient trading, for hobby farmers,
landscapers, and possibly producers in Jordan Lake Watershed
and beyond.
3. Provide information on conservation practice effectiveness and
nutrient trading to the Jordan Lake Oversight Committee, NC
Division of Water Quality, the NC Division of Soil and Water, NC
USDA‐NRCS, the NLEW Committee, and the general public.

20. Project Teaching Objectives
Re objectives:
1. Provide graduate students the opportunity to obtain graduate
level course credits by participating in the development of
extension and educational materials for stakeholders in the
Jordan Lake Basin.
2. Enhance course curricula for “Ecological Engineering
Applications,” an undergraduate course for Biological
Engineering students, and “Environmental Restoration
Implementation,” an undergraduate course for Agricultural and
Environmental Technology students.

21. Accomplishments
• Demonstrated the effectiveness of exclusion fencing and
nutrient management and will use reduction coefficients in
state‐wide regulatory tools
• Understand farmers preferences for conservation practices
and will work with extension on a different nutrient
management approach
• Provided diverse stakeholders results on modeling and trading
– Division of Water Resources has a better understanding that trading as
a policy tool has limitations in this watershed and others like it
– city officials also have a better view about agriculture’s capacity to fix
“their” problem
• This project provides of model going forward on how to
integrate disciplines and information and should be used prior
to setting regulations.

22. Acknowledgements
• Funding
– USDA NIFA (#2011‐
05151)
– NC DENR, USEPA 319
pass‐through funds
• Technical Support@ NC
State University, Soil
Science Department
– Wes Childres
– Ashleigh Hammac
– Rob Austin
• Farmers, and Soil and
Water Conservation
and extension
personnel