Project Number: 6402-12220-003-02
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Aug 15, 2003
End Date: Jul 31, 2008

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to evaluate best management practices that will reduce or mitigate detrimental effects of sedimentation and runoff on water quality and provide data that can be applied to TMDL standards.

Approach:
Runoff plots will be established at the Delta Branch Experiment Station to quantify the contribution of various BMPs toward reducing sedimentation and runoff in continuous cotton. These plots will be approximately 170 m in length and will be instrumented with flow meters and samplers to measure runoff volume, sediment load, and chemical loss. Composite runoff samples will be taken. BMPs will include no-tillage, rye cover crop, grass hedges, and grass filter strips. Natural rainfall conditions will be used for these assessments. Crop yield and management inputs will be quantified to obtain an economic analysis of the production system.