St. Joseph River (DeKalb County, IN) - The total drainage area of this
basin is approximately 281,000 ha overlapping Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio,
emptying into the Maumee River in Ft. Wayne, Indiana (Figure B11, HUC04100003).
The area to be evaluated is the Cedar Creek watershed, encompassing 71,000
ha, defined from the point where Cedar Creek empties into the St. Joseph
River, just northeast of Ft. Wayne, IN. The majority of this watershed
is within DeKalb County, Indiana. Three small sub-watersheds within the
Cedar Creek watershed have been selected for detailed monitoring.
The topography of the watershed varies from rolling hills in Hillsdale, Williams, Noble, and Steuben counties to nearly level plains and closed depressions in DeKalb and Allen counties. The St. Joseph River follows the Fort Wayne moraine, and flows past numerous low bluffs and terraces. This indicates that the river was once much wider and deeper. Much of the St. Joseph River bed is composed of sand and gravel deposits. The average slope of the river’s bottom is 1.6 feet per mile.
Soils in the watershed were formed from compacted glacial till. The predominate soil textures are silt loam, silty clay loam, and clay loam. Soil associations include Miami- Morley, Morley-Glynwood-Blount, and Blount-Pewamo. Erosion and over-saturation are the major soil limitations.
Water balance data (1) for Cedar Creek Watershed include: Annual Rainfall - 39.08 in; annual Runoff - 3.53 in. Hydrological characteristics for Cedar Creek Watershed include discharge data from 1947-2002 (3): Maximum - 5580 cfs; Minimum – na; Mean - 255 cfs; Median – na.
1. Water Quality: Runoff contaminated with sediments, nutrients (P, NO3-,
NH4+), and pesticides. The St. Joseph River serves as the drinking water
supply for the 200,000 people of Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne’s Three Rivers
Filtration Plant processes 34 million gallons of water daily from the St.
1. Conservation Crop Rotation 328
1. Water Quality: Determine the impact of voluntary, practical, and scientifically based BMPs on pesticide, nutrient, and sediment loads in source water on a watershed basis. The ARS research objective is a part of the Source Water Protection Initiative (SWPI) being implemented in Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri.
2. Modeling: Development of the spatial/historical database necessary
to run the SWAT model uncalibrated, calibrated and validated for the Cedar
Creek watershed and ultimately for the St. Joseph River watershed. SWAT
will be used to assist in the assessment of the benefits of conservation
practices. Determine to what extent the information obtained from the remotely
sensed data can be related to soil profile hydraulic properties.
Water Quality: The research is using paired sub watersheds at different scales within the St. Joseph River Watershed at DeKalb County, Indiana, to compare surface runoff, subsurface drainage, and stream level water quality parameters with and without CORE 4 BMPs and/or other BMPs considered effective for this resource need (as agreed upon and implemented by NRCS and growers); and using watershed water quality models and long term climatic data to generate probability estimates of the water quality benefits achievable through comprehensive implementation of these conservation practices throughout these watersheds. Since 2002, ARS has identified 11 sub watersheds, ranging in size from 6 to 10,600 ac, for water quality monitoring.
Modeling: A network of real-time weather stations is currently being constructed that will provide input to SWAT and will provide insights into the spatial variability and uncertainty of weather input data. Remotely sensed soil moisture data will be used to characterize drainage patterns at the watershed scale and thus determine surface soil hydraulic properties over large areas. Data is being gathered from producers that will provide input information from each tract within the monitored watersheds regarding management practices and timing.
Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) and Soil Quality Assessment: DOC has been measured for 2003 and 2004 at each sampling point (Figure 3). Experimentation is also ongoing regarding the loss of C and N with eroding sediments, and the possible enrichment of eroding aggregates with labile C and N. In addition, soil quality sampling is currently being conducted on the small AS1 and AS2 watersheds and will begin in the Upper Big Walnut (Ohio) watershed in 2005.
Small Watershed, Field and Plot Scale Experiments: Scientists at the National
Soil Erosion Research laboratory are also designing and implementing additional
experiments at the St Joseph River Watershed to address specific research
issues related to water quality. These research results will help improve
the basic science in watershed hydrology and be used to interpret the water
quality results from monitored sub-watersheds. A list of these research
projects is shown below:
1. Indiana T by 2000 Watershed Soil Loss Transects
St Joseph River Watershed Initiative is a local non-profit organization
that cooperates with ARS in maintaining the water quality sampling sites,
preserving the collected samples, collecting land use and management practice
data in the study area and communicating with land owners and farm operators
for the SWPI/CEAP project.