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Soil and Water Quality An Agenda for Agriculture (1993) / Chapter Skim
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12 A Landscape Approach to Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution
Pages 417-428

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From page 417...
... A focus on off-field controls changes the unit of analysis for physical and social science questions from the field to the landscape scale. Whereas nonpoint source pollution best-management practices and most agricultural policy instruments are directed toward activities that occur within agricultural fields, analysis of off-field nonpoint source pollution controls requires consideration of the interaction of crop fields with adjacent managed or unmanaged ecosystems and how those interactions affect water quality over an area larger than a specific crop field.
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From page 418...
... NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTANT A'l~l'l;NUATION MECEIANISMS The basis for a landscape approach to agricultural nonpoint source pollutants is the use of particular areas as sinks for pollutants moving off agricultural fields. These sinks must be capable of intercepting the pollutants in either surface water runoffs and/or groundwater flows (Figure 12-1)
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From page 421...
... developed for designing vegetative filter strips with respect to sediment removal (Barfield et al., 1979; Hayes et al., 1979~. The model was evaluated by using plot data from multiple events; and predicted values were in good agreement with observed values, even though the model does not consider deposition in the water ponded upslope of the grass strip, which is where most deposition occurs in grass filter strips (Hayes and Hairston, 1983~.
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From page 422...
... Actively managing riparian forests could substantially increase their effectiveness in preventing water pollution. Selection of the optimal grass species for vegetative filter strips and development of management plans for riparian forests are major topics of research at several locations in the United States.
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From page 423...
... Microorganisms have the ability to degrade organic compounds such as pesticides and many pesticides are highly susceptible to microbial degradation. Landscape areas that support high levels of organic matter and microbial populations (for example, vegetative filter strips or riparian forests and wetlands)
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From page 424...
... Dig ~ on ~- ~clef ~ ~> Of. ~:~ _1~ Cards A, ~!
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From page 425...
... This nitrate is then subject to denitrification. Adsorption Several physical and chemical adsorption processes in soil attenuate pollutants in vegetative filter strips, riparian buffer zones, and other landscape sink areas.
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From page 426...
... There is little potential for upland grass filter strips to interact with groundwater. The main advantage of vegetative filter strips is their proximity to agricultural fields and the potential for aggressive management of the plant community and the physical condition of the vegetative filter strip.
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From page 427...
... If the upland land use is pasture, management of zone 3 is less intense, with controlled grazing permitted under certain conditions. At the landscape scale, determination of areas to be used for vegetative filter strips or riparian buffer zones must be based on scientific evaluations of how effective these areas are likely to be for pollutant control.
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From page 428...
... Implementation of riparian buffer zones on a landscape scale will be more challenging. Since these areas are necessarily linked to certain water bodies, designation of the areas to be maintained as buffer zones will be based on watershed delineations that likely are not consistent with land ownership patterns or governmental jurisdictions.
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Key Terms

  • vegetative filter
  • nonpoint source
  • grass filter
  • buffer zones
  • filter strip

  • riparian buffer
  • riparian forests
  • concentrated flow
  • source pollutant
  • agricultural nonpoint

  • source pollutants
  • agricultural fields
  • source pollution
  • organic matter
  • conservation reserve

  • reserve program
  • riparian forest
  • grass vegetative
  • pollutant attenuation
  • control practices

  • plant community
  • water quality
  • buffer zone
  • pollutant control
  • chemical adsorption

  • grass strip
  • wet riparian
  • landscape scale
  • trapping efficiencies
  • flow refers


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