Agricultural runoff impacts on total maximum daily loads and water quality
Site Description. The USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) has provided funding ($175,000) for the Tate High School Farm to control erosion and runoff pollutants. The site is within the North Escambia [County] Gully Control EQIP Geographic Priority Area (EQIP Environmental Area: EEA), which covers some 223,000 acres in predominantly rural north Escambia County. Land use includes 38,000 acres of cropland, 12,000 acres of pasture and hayland, 152,000 acres of woodland, and 21,000 acres of other land uses such as wetland, roadways, farmsteads, and rural communities.
The above demonstration site will enable the integration of County Soil Extension Service efforts, High School and Middle School education, and University level research and education proposed in the current project. Tate High School in Escambia County owns the site and operates it as an experimental farm that incorporates row cropping (68 acres), hay production (31 acres), and silviculture (40 acres). The row crop/pasture and the silvicultural areas are forks of the same creek, permitting separate analyses of runoff water quality. The local hydrology and soils types are indicated in an aerial photograph (Figure 1) from the Escambia County Soil Survey. Immediate plans are to maintain existing hay fields, begin a no-till, long rotation (3 year) of Roundup®-resistant soybeans and corn (soybeans for the first three years beginning 2000), with minimal if any pesticide use. Rye will be planted as a winter crop. The silviculture area has greater relief and erodable soils. The site has recently been logged, and is scheduled to be planted in four 10 acre plots of long leaf yellow pine, slash pine, loblolly pine and a fast growing hardwood species Poplar, Birch or Eucalyptus). Burning and/or herbicide application will be used to prepare the site for planting. Plans to incorporate best management practices under the EQIP program are indicated in Figure 2. Grassed waterways and terracing are proposed to control runoff and erosion at the site. |