Developing 'Comparable' Small Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Protocols

In the spring of 2009, STAC sponsored two workshops to derive a short list of comparable field monitoring and assessment approaches to assure quantifiable, comparable responses in the NRCS managed basins under Farm Bill implementation. The workshops addressed: 1) Developing criteria to select small watersheds for enhanced monitoring and assessment of the relation between implementation of management actions and water-quality response; 2) Recommend optimal approaches for several types of monitoring needed in small watersheds: land-use activities, implementation of practices, and water-quality monitoring; and 3) Present ideas for enhanced assessment of the monitoring information in the small watersheds and how to transfer the results.