Nutrient Beneficial Management Practices Evaluation Project

• Development of a watershed approach to BMP implementation required the collective support of area residents and ongoing communication to share concerns and develop solutions—it took time and trust building.
• The mitigation of environmental water quality concerns required the implementation of site-specific suites of BMPs.
• The addition of manure to the land by mechanical application will increase total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in runoff water compared to non-manured or pasture sites.
• Almost all of the BMP suites implemented at each site were effective at significantly improving water quality for TN, TP, total suspended solids (TSS), and/or Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations at the edge-of-field or immediately downstream.
• The location or scale of water quality measurement is important when evaluating the efficacy of BMPs as well as adherence to water quality guidelines or objectives.
• The costs of BMPs varied, but generally, BMPs for extensive livestock were less costly than BMPs associated with intensive livestock.
• Phosphorus reduction will require decades of mitigation efforts in fields with a long-term accumulation of soil P from manure application, and will be costly to implement.
• For irrigated fields with high soil nutrient concentrations from manure applications, BMPs that deal with the source and transport of nutrients are required.
• The BMP Project watersheds were representative of the Grassland and Parkland natural regions, and the results should inform future BMP approaches and recommendations throughout much of Alberta’s agricultural regions.
• As expected, the relatively few BMPs implemented in each of the project watersheds did not measurably improve water quality at the outlet.
• Shallow groundwater conditions must be considered in the design and assessment of BMPs.

• The CEEOT model was able to simulate the environmental and economic impacts of suites or scenarios of BMPs at the farm and watershed scales.
• The Farm-level Economic Model, which assessed the annual economic impact of BMPs on farm profits for 30 to 35 years, showed that financial impacts were greater in some years than others.
• The model BMP scenario performance was validated as it confirmed several conclusions from the field study.
• Although the model simulated that riparian and cow-calf BMPs resulted in significant reductions of sediment and nutrient losses, the environmental outcome may not be significant, depending on the watershed.
• All BMP Project watershed model scenarios resulted in negative net returns either from a decline in revenues or an increase in cost.
• For the Red Deer River study area, most BMP scenarios were successful at reducing nutrient losses from the farm or the study area as a whole, and usually at a financial cost to the producer.
• Water quality improvements were more easily demonstrated at the edge-of-field or at the outlet of relatively small watersheds than for a larger watershed like the Red Deer River study area.
• The most environmentally effective BMPs varied among the study areas and this highlights the need for several BMP options in order to address the diversity of Alberta's landscape and agriculture.
• The model predicted that P-based manure application limits were more effective in reducing the TP at the edge-of-field than at the watershed outlets.
• Four of the most environmentally effective scenarios modelled in the Red Deer River study area included P-based manure management, with varied impacts on farm economics.
• Implementing P-based manure management in the Red Deer River study area would require increased manure hauling as more manure would need to be transported from a greater number of farms.
• Targeting critical source areas for BMP implementation may increase the chance of positive effects on water quality.

• Develop specific water-quality objectives for key nutrients such as TN and TP in agricultural watershed streams that reflect the naturally nutrient-rich prairie soils.
• A key preventative plan to protect water quality is to avoid the build-up of soil nutrients on agricultural land.
• Critical source areas should be mapped and defined for all agricultural watersheds in Alberta.
• Suites of agricultural BMPs should be implemented within watersheds in order to achieve measurable downstream water quality improvement.
• Alberta should continue to assess the cumulative and long-term effectiveness of BMPs to mitigate the impacts of agricultural management on water quality at the watershed scale.

• Section 0—Executive Summary
• Section 1— Introduction
• Section 2— General Methods
• Section 3— Indianfarm Creek Watershed
• Section 4—Whelp Creek Sub-watershed
• Section 5—Battersea Drain Field Site
• Section 6—Lower Little Bow River Field Site
• Section 7—Synthesis
• Section 8— References
• Section 9—Appendices

• Report 1—Application of Model to the BMP Watersheds
• Report 2—Protocol for BMP Assessment
• Report 3—Application of Model to the Red Deer Watershed