Miami Site with a drainage area of 18,873 acres
 
 

Highway 240 Site with a drainage area of 8410 acres;
 
 

Twin Watershed Site with 2 drainage areas, (the 10.4 acre west watershed under conventional tillage and the 13.9 acre east watershed with zero tillage.)
 
 
 
 
 

Runoff monitoring is recorded on a continual basis when flow activity is present. The automatic samplers are activated during runoff events. Also as often as possible manual or "grab samples" are obtained during these runoff events at all 3 sites. The Miami Site is the only site that has grab samples taken on a 2 week cycle, while flow is occurring.

These water samples are analyzed for sediment, nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) levels and pesticide concentrations. Flow rates are added to the hydrologic information.

Land Use Monitoring

Land use activities are reported annually by the 42 participating farmers. Land use information includes:

- type of crop grown, date seeded, date harvested and yield.

- pesticide and fertilizer application rate along with the dates applied.

- residue management practices, types of equipment used and number of passes.

The Rural Municipality of Thompson reports all pesticide use including location, rates and dates applied.

Ground Cover Monitoring

16 fields are monitored, 2 crop types of heavy residue and 2 crop types of low residue. These fields are monitored for percent residue ground cover and foliage ground cover until 80% coverage is achieved.

Snow Depth and Water Equivalence Monitoring

The snow course monitoring takes place at the Twin Watershed Site (TWS). It consists of 2 lines running full width across the TWS. There are 24 points measured for snow depth 2 points are core sampled for water equivalence. The course is monitored throughout winter and thaw period.

Soil Moisture Monitoring

Monitoring occurs at the Twin Watershed Site.

Soil Nitrogen Monitoring

At the TWS soil nitrate levels are determined for one foot increments to a depth of 12 feet. In order to compare zero and conventional tillage, separate samples are taken from each of the two fields within the TWS. 

Students Learning at the Site   Demographics of Project