By Doug Deardorff
Pilot Watershed Project Coordinator, Hardin Soil & Water Conservation District

On August 22, scientists from the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and four regional universities gathered with Hardin County area farmers to explain the water and soil quality monitoring efforts being done in the Shallow Run watershed near Dunkirk.  

The Pilot Watershed Project is locally led by the Hardin Soil and Water Conservation District and directed by Dr. Jay Martin at The Ohio State University. The monitoring is being done to evaluate the impact of conservation practice implementation within the watershed through 2028. The Project is supported by multiple other academic, corporate, private and governmental entities within Ohio. The project is a 5-year, $18M effort designed to accelerate conservation practice adoption to determine measurable impact on water quality improvement. 

After a kickoff and explanation of the Pilot Watershed Project by Director Jay Martin, Dr. Jedediah Stinner, a hydrologist with the USDA ARS, explained how the ARS Edge of Field monitoring equipment gathered water samples from an agricultural field to detect how much phosphorus was leaving the field from surface water runoff and through water collected by the subsurface drainage system. 

Current research results show most of the annual phosphorus loss leaves the field through the subsurface drainage system. Losses of phosphorus from surface water tend to be of short duration while subsurface drainage occurs over longer periods of time.

Dr. Laura Johnson, Director of the Water Quality Laboratory at Heidelberg University, explained her research and the monitoring being done at the watershed scale and how phosphorus loss and trends occur over the course of the year. Most of the phosphorus is lost during the spring and summer months and are associated with rain and storm events. She showed how the loss of phosphorus during the spring months impacts the size of the harmful algal bloom seen annually in Lake Erie.  

Her monitoring work indicates that nearly 8,000 pounds of phosphorus moves out of the Shallow Run watershed annually but is variable depending on overall weather and other factors.

Emma Campbell from the University of Toledo provided an update on the soil health monitoring being done in conjunction with the Bowling Green State University.  Seven local farmers are participating in the study. She discussed the aspects of phosphate cycling and loss with the soil system and the mechanisms responsible for change in organic and inorganic forms and impact on soil health and water quality.