Grantee Research Project Results
1998 Progress Report: Watershed Protection in Agricultural Environments: Integrated Social, Geomorphological, and Ecological Research to Support Ecosystem-based Stream Management
EPA Grant Number: R825306Title: Watershed Protection in Agricultural Environments: Integrated Social, Geomorphological, and Ecological Research to Support Ecosystem-based Stream Management
Investigators: Rhoads, Bruce L. , Herricks, Edwin E. , Wilson, David
Institution: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: January 1, 1997 through December 31, 1999 (Extended to December 31, 2000)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 1997 through December 31, 1998
Project Amount: $350,000
RFA: Water and Watersheds Research (1996) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , Water
Objective:
The project has two primary objectives: (1) to study the social dynamics of community-based watershed projects to find points of penetration for infusing scientific knowledge that informs ecosystem-based stream management into the social mechanisms by which empowered local stakeholders structure and restructure watersheds; and (2) to develop an improved scientific understanding of the connections among geomorphological conditions, physical habitat, and fish community structure and function in human-modified agricultural streams.Progress Summary:
The project has a four-pronged research design:(1) historical analysis of the attitudes and values of rural stakeholders toward water and watersheds in the agricultural Midwest; (2) social analysis of the mechanisms that facilitate and impede infusion of new scientific knowledge into local decisions about stream management in agricultural watersheds; (3) Geographic Information System, GIS-, and field-based analysis of interrelations between geomorphological and ecological dynamics of human-modified agricultural stream systems at the watershed and reach scales; and (4) dissemination of scientific information from the geomorphological and ecological research to farmers and other local stakeholders.Historical Analysis. The collection of archival historical information is largely complete. This information is being analyzed to understand the historical values and attitudes of stakeholders toward water and watersheds, and to establish the context within which contemporary agricultural practices, including land drainage and stream modification, operate in east central Illinois today.
Social Analysis. The second year of social analysis involved conducting additional in-depth open-ended interviews with farmers, drainage districts commissioners, and associated stakeholders in the rural communities. To date, 103 interviews have been conducted, building upon the database from Year 1 (57 interviews). These interviews have continued to focus on three critical issues: (1) farmer and stakeholder perception of watersheds as an agricultural, cultural and aesthetic resource; (2) current usage and maintenance of watersheds; and (3) perceived best and relevant strategies for future usage and maintenance. Findings thus far indicate that farmers construct a fluid but grounded identity of themselves rooted in a spatially specific rural agrarian ideal. This identity pivots around a sense of economic, cultural, and social distinctiveness that makes them unique, socially productive, and morally grounded.
Geomorphological Analysis. During the past year, geomorphological analysis at the watershed-scale focused on refining and advancing GIS analysis of channel planform change. Results indicate that human agency in the form of channelization and stream maintenance have had a profound impact on the stability and adjustment rates of agricultural streams in east central Illinois. Humans, through these mechanisms of stream channel intervention, clearly have the capacity to produce long-lasting change in the physical landscape relative to other geomorphic processes and agents.
Field activities during the second year focused on: (1) measurements of three-dimensional flow structure at the five field sites selected for detailed study during the first year of the project; (2) repeat surveying of channel cross-sections within each reach to document channel dynamics within reach types; and (3) sampling of bed material and bedload to document the material properties of the channels at each site.
Ecological Analysis. Ecological research has progressed with completion of initial fisheries community sampling and analysis, and updating of the autecology matrix, including initial sensitivity analysis. Fisheries sampling was initiated in June 1997 and has continued through November 1998. Three watersheds have been sampled, including three reaches on the Embarras River (highly sinuous, mildly sinuous, and straight); two reaches on Madden Creek; and one reach on the Spoon River. Fisheries communities have been shown to be variable through time with individual sample species numbers ranging from 11 to 24. These data are being analyzed to identify resident and transient communities in each reach, support improvement of the autecology matrix, and provide critical information for the design of studies to identify critical habitat needs.
Future Activities:
Third-year activities will focus on content analysis of historical documents using qualitative data analysis techniques; exploration of the social dynamics of scientist-farmer interactions; and collection, analysis, and integration of geomorphological and ecological data. A key component of third-year activities will be to disseminate findings of the integrated geomorphological/ecological research to local stakeholders and to explore the response of farmers to this information through the ongoing social science investigation.Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 18 publications | 6 publications in selected types | All 4 journal articles |
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Rhoads BL, Wilson D, Urban M, Herricks EE. Interaction between scientists and nonscientists in community-based watershed management: emergence of the concept of stream naturalization. Environmental Management 1999;24(3):297-308. |
R825306 (1998) R825306 (Final) R827148 (Final) |
Exit Exit Exit |
Supplemental Keywords:
aquatic ecology, ecosystem-based stream management, fluvial geomorphology, social science, watershed protection., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Economic, Social, & Behavioral Science Research Program, Water, Geographic Area, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Water & Watershed, Midwest, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Ecosystem Protection, exploratory research environmental biology, Chemical Mixtures - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecological Effects - Human Health, Ecology and Ecosystems, decision-making, Ecological Risk Assessment, Geology, Watersheds, Social Science, Economics & Decision Making, Ecological Indicators, anthropogenic processes, social science research, ecosystem valuation, risk assessment, agricultural watershed, community-based research, stream ecosystems, fisheries, hydrology, stream management, aquatic ecosystems, geomorphic, water quality, ecology assessment models, water management optionsRelevant Websites:
http://ux6.cso.uiuc.edu/~herricks/epaddm.htmlProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.