Fact Sheet 084–03

August 2003

Sugar Creek Watershed Selected for a National Water-Quality Study

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Table of Contents

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The Sugar Creek watershed in Indiana is one of five watersheds selected by ...

At a typical study site, several methods are used to collect water and chem...

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Data Collection in the Sugar Creek Watershed, 2003–2004

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is studying five watersheds across the Nation to better understand how natural factors and agricultural management practices (AMPs) affect the transport of water and chemicals. Natural factors include climate and landscape (soil type, topography, geology), and AMPs include practices related to tillage, irrigation, and chemical application. The study approach is similar in each watershed so that we can compare and contrast the results and more accurately predict conditions in other agricultural settings.

The Sugar Creek watershed in Indiana is one of five watersheds selected by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program for a special study of agricultural chemicals and water quality.

Study objectives

• Understand the links between the sources of water and agricultural chemicals (nutrients and pesticides) and their behavior and transport through the environment
• Predict the behavior and transport of water and agricultural chemicals in other agricultural areas not being studied
• Evaluate what the study results mean for management of water and water quality in a variety of agricultural settings

Why study the Sugar Creek watershed?

Sugar Creek and the other four watersheds represent nationally important agricultural settings (chemical use, crops, and AMPs) and natural settings (climate, geology, topography, and soils). Sugar Creek, which is part of the White River watershed, is representative of corn and soybean row cropping typical in the Midwest.

Other features of the watershed that are relevant to this study:

• Use of agricultural chemicals: Chemicals used include fertilizers and herbicides, such as atrazine, acetochlor, metolachlor, and glyphosate.
• Distinct natural setting: Topography is nearly flat and clayey soils are poorly drained, which causes water to pond on the land surface unless agricultural tile drains are used. Tile drains “short circuit” the ground-water system by intercepting water percolating through the soil and shallow ground water and transporting it rapidly to streams.
• Variety of agricultural management practices: AMPs include conservation practices, traditional tillage, and use of tile drains.
• Water-quality issues: Herbicides have been frequently detected in streams; some concentrations were among the highest in agricultural areas sampled across the Nation. Although tile drains help protect ground-water systems, they also transport pesticides and nutrients to streams during the months when the tile drains typically flow.

At a typical study site, several methods are used to collect water and chemical samples from the air, soil, surface water, and ground water. After being applied to the land surface, agricultural chemicals can move upward into the atmosphere, downward through the soil to shallow ground water and underlying aquifers, eventually discharging to streams, or run off across the land into streams, eventually moving downstream to reservoirs and coastal waters. This process can take days, weeks, or even decades if water moves underground through the ground-water system.

Data Collection in the Sugar Creek Watershed, 2003–2004

¹In this study, water-quality and sediment-quality data include concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous), pesticides and pesticide breakdown products, and natural constituents and properties, including major ions (calcium, magnesium, chloride, etc.), organic carbon, dissolved oxygen, and temperature.

We would like to thank

Purdue University, Depts. of Agricultural Engineering, Agronomy, and Environmental Engineering

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Indiana State and Hancock County offices

Ohio State University, College of Engineering

For more information

Nancy Baker, Lead Scientist, Sugar Creek study (317) 290-3333, ntbaker@usgs.gov

Paul Capel, Team Leader, National study (612) 625-3082, capel@usgs.gov

NAWQA Program http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa

Publication

Fenelon, Joseph M., 1998, Water Quality in the White River Basin, Indiana, 1992-96, U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1150.

We appreciate your help

We are working with local growers and land owners to gain access to study sites. We also need information about the watershed and about current as well as historical agricultural management practices—past practices also affect concentrations of agricultural chemicals in ground and surface water.

We will report the findings of the study in public meetings and in publications. The findings will provide information that will be useful for improving agricultural management locally and nationally, and will guide future studies in other watersheds.

The USGS provides reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.

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U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Persistent URL: http://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/fs/fs08403/ Page Contact Information: USGS Publishing Network Last modified: Tuesday, November 29 2016, 05:56:52 PM

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