ABSTRACT:
Nonpoint source pollution in intensively managed agricultural landscapes is of great concern to the general population, farmers and policymakers, as it impacts local water quality and can have large downstream effects, as in the case of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. In this study, we outline a methodology to simultaneously assess economic costs and water quality benefits associated with the hypothetical placement of a broad set of conservation practices. The study, performed for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, assesses thirteen major subbasins in Iowa by interfacing economic models with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model. The conservation practices analyzed include land set-aside, terraces, grassed waterways, contouring, conservation tillage, and a simple nutrient reduction strategy. Annual costs range from $300 to $597 million. Predicted sediment, total phosphorus (P), and nitrate decreases range from six to 65 percent, 28 to 59 percent, and six to 20 percent, respectively, relative to the baseline.
Footnotes
Silvia Secchi is associate scientist at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Philip W. Gassman and Manoj Jha are assistant scientists at CARD located in Ames, Iowa. Lyubov Kurkalova is assistant professor in the Department of Agribusiness Economics at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. Hongli H. Feng is associate scientist at CARD and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Todd Campbell is systems analyst at CARD and Catherine L. Kling is Resource and Environmental Policy Division head at CARD, and professor in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
- Copyright 2007 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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