NB_290_22_12 - NB 290-22-12 INV – Updated Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) Water Quality Benefits Estimator Tool Released for NRCS Staff
NB 290-22-12 INV – Updated Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) Water Quality Benefits Estimator Tool Released for NRCS Staff
National
Bulletin:
290-22-12
Date:
August 23, 2022
Subject:
INV – Updated Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) Water Quality Benefits Estimator Tool Released for NRCS Staff
Action Required By:September 22, 2022
Purpose. To announce the release of an updated CEAP Water Quality Benefits Estimator Tool for NRCS staff use.
Expiration Date. September 30, 2023
Background. CEAP is a multi-agency effort to quantify the environmental effects of conservation practices on the nation’s working lands. The CEAP modeling team provides tools to assist NRCS conservationists, partners, agricultural producers, and other land managers in making informed, data-driven decisions to support voluntary natural resource conservation.
The CEAP Water Quality Benefits Estimator Tool integrates NRCS and Farm Service Agency databases with field-level and watershed-scale models to estimate water quality outcomes of NRCS-specific conservation practice adoption on cultivated cropland acres. An updated version of the tool is now available for NRCS staff.
Explanation. The CEAP Water Quality Benefits Estimator Tool is an interactive web application hosted on the NRCS ArcGIS Online platform. It is currently available for official NRCS staff use only.
This tool provides numerical data and associated heat maps that spatially display estimated losses prevented over time for four natural resource concerns — nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, and wind erosion — through application of NRCS conservation practices related to cropland management. Addressing each of these concerns through voluntary conservation yields direct and indirect benefits for water quality outcomes.
The CEAP Water Quality Benefits Estimator Tool offers a range of applications across geographic scale. For example, NRCS staff may use the tool to:
• Inform targeted, data-driven decisions that prioritize conservation efforts to maximize water quality improvements.
• Assess NRCS-specific conservation outcomes for a given location or locations related to nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, and wind erosion.
• Quantify water quality outcomes associated with NRCS-supported conservation practices on cultivated croplands over time.
Data, reported as pounds or tons of prevented losses, are available for the contiguous United States and are filterable at the national, State, county, and hydrologic unit code (HUC)-8 watershed scales. Annual data are available for fiscal years 2017 through 2021. Cumulative data are available for the 2008 Farm Bill from fiscal years 2009 to 2013 and for the 2014 Farm Bill from fiscal years 2014 to 2018. This release iterates on an earlier version of the tool and provides more current data.
Login instructions to access the tool will be shared with NRCS staff via an internal email. Staff should not share login information with stakeholders external to the agency at this time. This email will also include a link for staff to provide optional feedback to inform future tool updates and decisions, including a potential public release. Feedback will be accepted through September 22, 2022.
Contact. Please contact Dan Mullarkey, NRCS Resource Assessment Branch Leader, with questions or needs related to the CEAP Water Quality Benefits Estimator Tool. Mr. Mullarkey can be reached at Daniel.Mullarkey@usda.gov or (202) 631-1943.
/s/
DR. LUIS TUPAS
Deputy Chief Soil Science and Resource Assessment
ASTOR BOOZER
Regional Conservationist - West
XAVIER MONTOYA
Acting Regional Conservationist - Central