ABSTRACT:
Landscapes vary in their ability to protect associated surface waters and underlying aquifers. When coupled with land use data, vulnerability assessments allow managers to target those landscapes that pose the greatest risk to water quality. Soil and geologic data from a 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle were integrated to formulate surface and aquifer water vulnerability index values. The process is designed for easy implementation. Vulnerability assessment information can be displayed in map or numeric form. Water resource vulnerability assessment must take a holistic approach by integrating soil, geology, and land use information. Water resource vulnerability assessments, when considered with land management alternatives, can result in the development of agricultural production schemes that protect water resources from contamination by agricultural inputs.
Footnotes
Gary Lemme, formerly at South Dakota State University, is now assistant dean of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, 96822. C. Gregg Carlson is an associate professor in the Department of Plant Science, South Dakota State University, Brookings, 57006. Roger Dean is a nonpoint pollution coordinator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Denver Regional Office, Denver, Colorado, 80202. Bhairav Khakural was a graduate student in the Departmental Plant Science, South Dakota State University. This article is a contribution from the South Dakota State University Agriculture Experiment Station, Journal No. 2478.
- Copyright 1990 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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