Farming and water quality

CHANS-Net: Human-Nature Network scientists are examining the relationships between human and natural systems in agriculture, including studying how a farmer's decision to adopt conservation practices influences downstream water quality.

Conservation practices are generally considered ways to improve water quality and improve agricultural sustainability. The research aims to reveal exactly how much each adopted conservation tactic improves the quality of water downstream from the farm, with the goal of increasing sustainability. The research uses two modeling approaches: a social model and a physically-based watershed model.