Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework: 3. Land Use and Field Boundary Database Development and Structure

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Agricultural Science
• Water Resource Management

Background:

• Effective watershed water quality improvement requires integrating field-level conservation with broader watershed goals.
• Translating conservation planning information across scales (field, farm, watershed) is a significant challenge.
• "Trap and treat" practices at agricultural field edges are crucial for managing water flow and quality in watersheds.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a database structure that facilitates scale translation in conservation planning.
• To introduce the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) for practical conservation applications.
• To enable identification of optimal placement for conservation practices at various scales.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF), including a planning concept and database.
• Creation of an ArcGIS toolbox with Python scripts for conservation practice placement analysis.
• Compilation of a database containing land use, crop history, and soils information for numerous HUC12 watersheds.

Main Results:

• The ACPF database integrates diverse data for field- and watershed-scale analyses.
• The database covers 6091 HUC12 watersheds across multiple Midwestern states, encompassing 2.74 × 10^7 agricultural fields.
• Sample analyses demonstrate land use trends in Iowa and Illinois, showcasing the database's utility.

Conclusions:

• The ACPF database structure effectively bridges conservation planning scales.
• The ACPF provides a practical tool for implementing watershed water quality improvement strategies.
• The ACPF watershed data can be utilized for various planning and modeling approaches beyond its intended toolbox.