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Evaluation of agricultural best management practices to reduce nonpoint source ground water nitrate in southern Minidoka County, Idaho. Ground water monitoring technical completion report Item Info

In 1992, the EPA Section 319 National Monitoring Program (NMP) provided funding for the establishment of two demonstration fields within the Idaho Snake River Plain Water Quality Demonstration Project area in southern Minidoka County. A demonstration field was selected at each of two farms for a pilot ground water project primarily to monitor potential nonpoint source ground water nitrate contamination and to evaluate the effectiveness of two United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommended Best Management Practices (BMPs): (1) a nutrient management BMP through crop rotation and (2) a nutrient management BMP through reduced irrigation water application. An EPA suggested paired watershed approach was used to evaluate independently a different BMP at each demonstration field. For the paired watershed approach, each field was split into a control half and treatment half, and two periods of study were evaluated, a calibration period and a treatment period. The focus of this investigation was to evaluate MBP treatment period effects on ground water nitrated concentrations in shallow, perched aquifers underlying both demonstration fields, that are highly susceptible to agricultural nitrate contamination. A geostatistical approach was developed to evaluate nitrate concentration distributions and BMP effectiveness. A monitoring network of lysimeters, ground water point samplers, and/or shallow wells based, in part, on a geostatistical-oriented design was installed at each demonstration field. Monthly nitrate data collected for these monitoring networks were evaluated using two different types of geostatistical approaches. A sequential Gaussian (SGS) simulation approach was used to evaluate ground water and soil water nitrate concentration distributions at the crop rotation BMP demonstration field (i.e., Forgeon Field). A trend surface analysis (TSA) approach was used to evaluate ground water and soil water nitrate concentration distributions at the irrigation BMP demonstration field (i.e., Moncur Field). Geostatistically derived spatial maps based on SGS and TSA results were compared using a spatial map subtraction technique to evaluate net nitrate changes at each demonstration field.

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Title:
Evaluation of agricultural best management practices to reduce nonpoint source ground water nitrate in southern Minidoka County, Idaho. Ground water monitoring technical completion report
Authors:
Osiensky, James L.; Carlson, Rick A.; Baumgarten, David J.; Baker, Michelle F.; Gilliland, Brenda
Date Created (ISO Standard):
1999-12
Description:
In 1992, the EPA Section 319 National Monitoring Program (NMP) provided funding for the establishment of two demonstration fields within the Idaho Snake River Plain Water Quality Demonstration Project area in southern Minidoka County. A demonstration field was selected at each of two farms for a pilot ground water project primarily to monitor potential nonpoint source ground water nitrate contamination and to evaluate the effectiveness of two United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommended Best Management Practices (BMPs): (1) a nutrient management BMP through crop rotation and (2) a nutrient management BMP through reduced irrigation water application. An EPA suggested paired watershed approach was used to evaluate independently a different BMP at each demonstration field. For the paired watershed approach, each field was split into a control half and treatment half, and two periods of study were evaluated, a calibration period and a treatment period. The focus of this investigation was to evaluate MBP treatment period effects on ground water nitrated concentrations in shallow, perched aquifers underlying both demonstration fields, that are highly susceptible to agricultural nitrate contamination. A geostatistical approach was developed to evaluate nitrate concentration distributions and BMP effectiveness. A monitoring network of lysimeters, ground water point samplers, and/or shallow wells based, in part, on a geostatistical-oriented design was installed at each demonstration field. Monthly nitrate data collected for these monitoring networks were evaluated using two different types of geostatistical approaches. A sequential Gaussian (SGS) simulation approach was used to evaluate ground water and soil water nitrate concentration distributions at the crop rotation BMP demonstration field (i.e., Forgeon Field). A trend surface analysis (TSA) approach was used to evaluate ground water and soil water nitrate concentration distributions at the irrigation BMP demonstration field (i.e., Moncur Field). Geostatistically derived spatial maps based on SGS and TSA results were compared using a spatial map subtraction technique to evaluate net nitrate changes at each demonstration field.
Subjects:
Nonpoint pollution sources Groundwater contamination Nitrates Best management practices
Location:
Minidoka County; Snake River Basin; Southern Idaho
Latitude:
42.84
Longitude:
-113.58
Collection:
Boise Basin
IWRRI number:
199901
Rights:
Rights to the digital resource are held by the University of Idaho. http://www.uidaho.edu/
Publisher:
Idaho Water Resources Research Institute; University of Idaho
Contributing Institution:
University of Idaho
Type:
Text
Format:
application/pdf
Cataloger:
KIT
Date Digitized:
2017-09-26

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Preferred Citation:
"Evaluation of agricultural best management practices to reduce nonpoint source ground water nitrate in southern Minidoka County, Idaho. Ground water monitoring technical completion report", Idaho Waters Digital Library, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/iwdl/items/iwdl-199901.html
Rights
Rights:
Rights to the digital resource are held by the University of Idaho. http://www.uidaho.edu/
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