ABSTRACT:
Phosphorus (P)-based management strategies have been adopted in state planning standards nationwide, as most states have modified and adapted the original P index approach to better assess local landscape characteristics and management practices. However, P-based management strategies and environmental issues have become the focus of legal action within and between the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma due to differing management strategies in trans-boundary watersheds. A court settlement agreement was reached between parties in July 2003 requiring the development of a new P index by January 1, 2004 for use in writing nutrient management plans throughout the entire Eucha/Spavinaw watershed. The University of Arkansas found it most appropriate to modify the existing P index already in use in Arkansas to meet terms of the settlement agreement and to better reflect landscape characteristics and management practices specific to the Eucha/Spavinaw watershed. Hence, the Eucha/Spavinaw P index was developed and submitted to the court. By court decree, nutrient management plans in the watershed were written using the Eucha/Spavinaw P index beginning in February 2004. The Court issued further modifications to the Eucha/Spavinaw P index prior to release because the court felt that the specific P index did not fully comply with the settlement agreement. Through 2004, it was reported that the implementation of the Eucha/Spavinaw P index resulted in recommended litter application rates that were approximately one-third the rates that were common before the implementation of the Eucha/Spavinaw P index. Litter application rates recommended by the Eucha/Spavinaw P index were as much as 60 percent lower than application rates that would be recommended with the Arkansas phosphorus index for pastures as currently used.
Footnotes
Paul B. DeLaune is a research associate in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Brian E. Haggard is an associate professor for the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Tommy C. Daniel is a professor in the Soil, Crop, and Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Indrajeet Chaubey is an associate professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Mark J. Cochran is a professor and head of the Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Department at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
- Copyright 2006 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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