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Topographic placement of management practices in riparian zones to reduce water quality impacts from pastures

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Abstract

Riparian buffers, a best management practice (BMP), lessen environmental impacts caused by pasture-based agriculture by excluding livestock from streams and removing sediment and nutrients from overland flow before they enter the watercourse. Geospatial data analysis of digital elevation models (DEMs) can improve BMP placement by ensuring that BMPs intercept flow paths. Livestock heavy use areas and riparian buffers within 100 m of the stream were digitized using aerial photography of Spring Creek watershed (Pennsylvania, USA). Flow path lengths and stream entry points from heavy use areas, from all agricultural land uses, and from a random sample of points were calculated using 1, 10, and 30 m DEM resolutions. Euclidean distances identified the nearest stream entry point regardless of topography. Drainage areas for each streambank cell were evaluated using each DEM resolution. Topographic calculations differed significantly from Euclidean, with median differences of 14.3 m for flow path length and 24.1 m between stream entry points for the 10 m DEM. Existing buffers intercepted runoff from only 23 % of heavy use areas. Drainage areas ranged from one to hundreds of DEM cells. Any DEM is an arbitrary representation of a continuous surface; both resolution and processing method affect the suitability of such a representation for any given purpose. We found that 30 m DEMs did not provide reasonable flow path estimates at the scale of grazing agriculture in this region, while Pennsylvania 1 m DEMs were minimally smoothed during DEM preparation, resulting in erratic flow paths. The 10 m DEMs were the most suitable available DEM product, and should be used in conjunction with site visits for planning pasture BMP placement.

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Acknowledgments

This work contributes to the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), jointly funded, coordinated and administered by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service; Agricultural Research Service; and Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. Funding for this project was provided by the USDA-NRCS. We would like to thank Bob Carline for assistance with locations of BMPs installed in Spring Creek Watershed, and Hannah Ingram for her land use digitizing efforts. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Penn State Institutes for Energy and the Environment, The Pennsylvania State University, Bldg 3702, Curtin Rd., University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Denise A. Piechnik

  2. USDA-ARS, Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research Unit, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Sarah C. Goslee & Tamie L. Veith

  3. Riparia, Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Joseph A. Bishop & Robert P. Brooks

Authors
  1. Denise A. Piechnik
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  2. Sarah C. Goslee
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  3. Tamie L. Veith
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  4. Joseph A. Bishop
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah C. Goslee.

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Piechnik, D.A., Goslee, S.C., Veith, T.L. et al. Topographic placement of management practices in riparian zones to reduce water quality impacts from pastures. Landscape Ecol 27, 1307–1319 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-012-9783-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-012-9783-7

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