ABSTRACT:
A 5-year research study was initiated in 1990 at the USDA Water Quality Demonstration Project in the Herrings Marsh Run (HMR) watershed in Duplin County, North Carolina. The HMR watershed is representative of an eastern Coastal Plain watershed with intensive agricultural practices (e.g., crop, swine, poultry, and cattle production). Stream water sampling stations were established at four locations in the watershed to evaluate the influences of the agricultural practices on stream water quality. Stream water at the HMR Tributary (Station 2) was consistently lower in quality than water from the HMR Main channel (Station 3). Nitrate-N levels normally exceeded 5 mg/L in stream water at the HMR Tributary. These data indicate that current and past agricultural management practices have degraded stream water quality at Speciffic Locations. Implementation of improved management practices has the potential to produce measurable improvements in the quality of water in the demonstration watershed.
Footnotes
K. C. Stone is an agricultural engineer, P. G. Hunt and T. A. Matheny are soil scientists, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Coastal Plains Soil,Water, and Plant Research Center, Florence, SC; S. W Coffey is a water quality specialist, Water Quality Group, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University.
- Copyright 1995 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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