Agriculture and the Quality of the Nation's Waters
Intensive studies by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project in agricultural areas provide insight into how agricultural activities have altered the natural flow of water and the way that agricultural chemicals enter streams and aquifers, and in particular how nutrients affect algal and invertebrate communities in agricultural streams.
We all have a connection to agriculture, which supplies a major part of the Nation’s food, feed, and fiber needs. Agricultural chemicals move into and through every component of the hydrologic system, including air, soil, soil water, streams, wetlands, and groundwater.
The results of these NAWQA agricultural-area studies are described in two USGS publications: Agriculture—A River Runs Through It—The Connections Between Agriculture and Water Quality (Circular 1433) and Understanding the Influences of Nutrients on Stream Ecosystems in Agricultural Landscapes (Circular 1437). Find additional publications under the Publications tab and presentations under the Multimedia tab.
Follow the links below to web pages on topics related to agriculture and water quality.
Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA)
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Agriculture — A river runs through it — The connections between agriculture and water quality
Fertilizer consumption and energy input for 16 crops in the United States
Agricultural disturbance response models for invertebrate and algal metrics from streams at two spatial scales within the U.S.
Vulnerability of streams to legacy nitrate sources
Development and application of an agricultural intensity index to invertebrate and algal metrics from streams at two scales
Expanded stream gauging includes groundwater data and trends
Concentrations, loads, and yields of organic carbon in streams of agricultural watersheds
The hydrology of a drained topographical depression within an agricutlural field in north-central Iowa
Changes in water budgets and sediment yields from a hypothetical agricultural field as a function of landscape and management characteristics--A unit field modeling approach
Eleven-year trend in acetanilide pesticide degradates in the Iowa River, Iowa
Selected historic agricultural data important to environmental quality in the United States
Seasonal patterns in nutrients, carbon, and algal responses in wadeable streams within three geographically distinct areas of the United States, 2007-08
Factors controlling nitrate fluxes in groundwater in agricultural areas
Intensive studies by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project in agricultural areas provide insight into how agricultural activities have altered the natural flow of water and the way that agricultural chemicals enter streams and aquifers, and in particular how nutrients affect algal and invertebrate communities in agricultural streams.
We all have a connection to agriculture, which supplies a major part of the Nation’s food, feed, and fiber needs. Agricultural chemicals move into and through every component of the hydrologic system, including air, soil, soil water, streams, wetlands, and groundwater.
The results of these NAWQA agricultural-area studies are described in two USGS publications: Agriculture—A River Runs Through It—The Connections Between Agriculture and Water Quality (Circular 1433) and Understanding the Influences of Nutrients on Stream Ecosystems in Agricultural Landscapes (Circular 1437). Find additional publications under the Publications tab and presentations under the Multimedia tab.
Follow the links below to web pages on topics related to agriculture and water quality.
Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA)
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.