Strategy #4: Coordinate Science, Research and Monitoring

The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) is a multi-agency effort, led by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), to quantify the environmental effects of conservation practices and programs and develop the science base for managing the agricultural landscape for environmental quality.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts edge-of-field monitoring in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) priority watersheds, including the Maumee River basin, to analyze the effects of GLRI-funded best management practices (BMPs) on sediment and nutrient losses from fields.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) conducts monitoring to track changes and identify long-term trends in nutrient and sediment loads to the Great Lakes in 26 major tributaries across the basin.  Eight of these tributaries drain directly to Lake Erie, and two others drain to the St. Clair – Detroit River System.

This is a partnership among USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Department of Natural & Applied Sciences, Purdue University's Department of Agronomy, and the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Water Science Centers in New York and Wisconsin. The partners will conduct soil health assessments in conjunction with edge-of-field (EoF) water quality monitoring projects established in the GLRI Priority Watersheds. The long-term goal of the project is to document and help build understanding of the relationships between soil health conservation practices and water quality effects of those. The focus of this project is to establish:

• standardized, in-field soil health monitoring protocols for USGS EoF sites
• to create a robust baseline dataset of soil health at USGS EoF sites
• to connect field-scale soil health parameters with the water quality leaving these fields.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) continues to support edge-of-field monitoring efforts and research coming out of the Ohio State University and USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, along with other local partners, conduct monitoring of nutrient discharge levels from priority combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to evaluate seasonal and annual loads. 

Existing monitoring funds will be used to implement an open water monitoring system in western Lake Erie.

The estimated phosphorus loading contributions to the central Lake Erie basin from Pennsylvania tributaries – and the statistical confidence in those loading estimations – require additional focus and effort to assure accuracy.

New York State has established and implemented various programs and initiatives to research water quality issues throughout the state relating to Harmful Algal Blooms. New York State is also committed to participating in the Great Lakes Water Quality Act’s (GLWQA) Annex 4 Cladophora initiatives and research. New York will continue ongoing research efforts on algal blooms both within Lake Erie and other New York waters.

The St. Marys River Watershed Initiative is a paired watershed monitoring and soil health monitoring project.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy will support the development and implementation of approved watershed management plans (WMPs) in Michigan’s portion of the Maumee River watershed and Michigan's watersheds that discharge directly into western Lake Erie.

Only a small portion (about 7 percent) of the Maumee watershed lies within Michigan’s borders. Michigan is partnering with Indiana, Ohio, the U.S. EPA, and the U.S. Geological Survey to ensure appropriate monitoring of the watershed. Though continued monitoring is needed, initial monitoring and analysis has revealed that certain parts of the Maumee watershed in Michigan have higher phosphorus concentrations than others.