| NSF Org: |
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | December 17, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | December 17, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1505309 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Thomas Torgersen
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | November 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $599,383.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $599,383.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
107 S INDIANA AVE BLOOMINGTON IN US 47405-7000 (317)278-3473 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
IN US 47401-3654 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | CR-Water Sustainability & Clim |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
Covering approximately 40% of the world's landscape, modern agriculture feeds a growing human population and has undeniable impact on Earth's water system. Agriculture affects the supply of clean water to support human activities and ecosystems. A changing climate is a further compounding factor that directly impacts agricultural practices and consequently water quality and quantity. This research will quantify how decision-making by agricultural land managers is influenced by local governance organizations, such as Watershed Management Authorities, and will model the impact of these organizations on water quality and quantity. The research team will construct numerical models to examine the consequences of future scenarios of climate, land management, and land use. Model results will be made accessible to focus groups on a web-based platform, and decision-making forums. To inform future planning, the research team will develop narratives about the social-economic drivers and model-based consequence, strategies for involving governance organizations, advocacy groups, and the general public in policy decisions. This project will integrate teaching and research through the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities. The public will be engaged through decision-making forums and by crowdsourcing hydrologic data. Outcomes from this research will inform local decision making through partnerships with Watershed Management Authorities and directly sharing results with state legislators in multiple forums. A web-based interface will be created for stakeholders to interact with data and models, which is an experiment that can be extended to other regions.
The overall scientific objective of this research is to project future scenarios for the agricultural Midwest given changes in climate, land management practices, and local governance. The central hypothesis poses that water resource governance structure and economic concerns supersede changes in climate, flooding, drought, or water quality in influencing land management practices and resultant environmental outcomes. The specific research plan includes quantifying how land management activities affect human and environmental outcomes under a changing climate, assessing the influence of watershed governance in the decision-making process by agricultural land managers, and identifying future scenarios for the region in response to changes in land management and climate.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This study sought to assess the roles of climate and management decisions in controlling nutrient pollution, and the potential for collaborative governance in the form of Watershed Management Authorities as a mechanism to address regional water quality and quantity problems. First, linked of changes in climate and weather, land management, and intrinsic properties of the landscape including soil types and topography to water quality and quantity outcomes. We found that changes in climate are important in controlling nutrient pollution, with increasingly common dry-to-wet transitions setting up large pulses of nitrogen pollution to waterways. Additionally, we learned how the conditions that precede a storm, such as widespread drought or flooding conditions, are important in controlling water quality and quantity outcomes. Additionally, we studied humans and how water is managed. We studied the way water is portrayed in the public media and who are considered experts, finding much more emphasis on flooding despite the persistent and worsening water quality in our study region. We also worked with multiple Watershed Management Authorities to understand how and why they formed, how they are currently functions, and ultimately identified best practices for forming effective Watershed Management Authorities.
In addition to scientific outcomes, we took care to share results of our studies with stakeholders of the project including (a) development of a web-based continuing education course; (b) presenting results to watershed management authorities; (c) developing and disseminating a “policy brief” via Indiana University’s Public Policy Institute; (d) developing a module for Iowa’s 8th Grade Science Phenomena curriculum; and (e) collaborating with the English River Watershed Management Authority and Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities to identify priorities for watershed resilience and improvement. Finally, this project supported training the next generation of scientists including a diverse team of undergraduate and graduate students spanning multiple institutions and disciplines.
Last Modified: 09/27/2019
Modified by: Adam S Ward
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