Watershed Management and TMDL's  Home

Total Maximum Daily Loading (TMDL) of stream and lake contaminants is directly related to runoff and sediment translocation. This is an important issue in North Dakota because many streams exceed water quality standards. Development of TMDLs for these streams is a regulatory process that will affect the residents of the watershed upstream. It is well known that sediment eroded from fields by either wind or water serves as a source for water resource contamination. In North Dakota wind and water account for 60% and 40% of eroded sediment, respectively. Soil conservation practices that protect topsoil from eroding also protect water resources. However, soil conservation practices were originally designed to reduce erosion rates to tolerable levels with respect to land productivity, not water resource protection. Soluble forms of contaminants are only slightly affected by traditional soil conservation measures. In addition, most of the sediment eroded from fields never reaches a stream or lake, because it is deposited in other places such as the base of hillslopes, fence lines, or road ditches. Effective protection of streams and lakes requires a combination of traditional erosion control measures and other methods designed to control soluble contaminants. In addition, knowledge of landscape locations that actively contribute to stream contamination within a given watershed is essential to TMDL development. TMDL management plans implemented with an understanding of contaminant translocation and fate on local landscapes will increase resource protection and reduce economic impacts.

Programs of study that include course-work related to watershed processes that affect the translocation and fate contaminants are Soil Science, Animal and Range Science, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Agricultural Systems Management, and Geosciences.

Application of Remote Sensing to Landuse and Water Quality Education  Dath Mita Ag. & Biosystems Engineering, statewide

Dr. Bruce Seelig, Water Quality Program Coordinator, Ag. & Bisosystems Engineering, NDSU Fargo

Dr. David Hopkins, Assistant Professor, Soil Science, NDSU Fargo