Bluegrass Watershed Water Quality Monitoring Project
Surface water and groundwater quality was monitored from 1987 to 1992 in Bluegrass Watershed, a 1,024-acre, agricultural watershed (north-central Audubon County) in western Iowa. The watershed was the site of on-farm demonstration practices designed to use nutrient, chemical, and energy inputs efficiently while reducing potential effects on surface water and groundwater. A series of private wells, monitoring wells, tile lines, precipitation site, and a surface water site were monitored on a monthly basis for nitrate and periodically for pesticides and total coliform bacteria. The monitoring was designed to enhance our understanding about nitrate and pesticide movement in the shallow groundwater system in western Iowa and to evaluate the effects of changes in farm management practices on the groundwater quality at a small watershed scale.
For more information contact Lynette Seigley (Lynette.Seigley@dnr.iowa.gov) at (319)335-1575 .
Bluegrass Watershed Water Quality Monitoring Project Publications:
Groundwater quality observations from the Bluegrass Watershed, Audubon County, Iowa: GSB Technical Information Series 20 (Abstract)
Well-water quality data from a volunteer sampling program: Audubon County, Iowa: Iowa Academy of Science (Abstract)
Water quality from the Bluegrass Watershed, Audubon County, Iowa: 1987-1992: GSB Technical Information Series 35 (Abstract)