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Muddy Water and American Agriculture: How to Best Control Sedimentation From Agricultural Land?
Author(s) -
Lovejoy Stephen B.,
Lee John Gary,
Beasley David B.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr021i008p01065
Subject(s) - sedimentation , agriculture , sediment , variety (cybernetics) , soil conservation , environmental science , environmental resource management , sediment control , environmental planning , land use , water quality , water resources , hydrology (agriculture) , business , computer science , engineering , geography , ecology , civil engineering , geology , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , artificial intelligence , biology
The role of agricultural sediment in water quality is well documented. While numerous policies have been advocated and initiated, it still appears to be a significant problem. The present analysis concentrates on the outcome of several policy alternatives in terms of sediment delivery and project costs. These results are obtained by combining social science investigation of probable farmer behavior under a variety of scenarios with a hydrologic simulation model which predicts the sediment delivery with different land uses. This integration of social science behavioral research with the hydrologic response simulation model provides a framework to assess the environmental effectiveness of alternative policies aimed at reducing sedimentation. While the results presented here are preliminary, this approach seems to offer great promise as a tool for federal, state and local conservation agencies in their efforts to efficiently and effectively use their limited resources to reduce soil loss.