To bring together a range of stakeholders to tackle nutrient loss and to develop, and test, agricultural BMPs, MWRDGC established a Nutrient Loss Reduction Research and Demonstration Project on agricultural land at its Fulton County site.
The site is approximately 13,000 acres of mostly strip-mined land; about 4,000 acres were reclaimed and for almost 40 years have been used for row crop production. With funding from MWRD and other organizations, collaborations with universities and agricultural entities bring together soil scientists and technicians to develop BMPs. The site provides the opportunity to test agricultural BMPs on a field-scale or watershed scale with scenarios that might not be accessible on farmers’ fields.
Beginning in 2015, MWRD began testing the effectiveness of planting cover crops early by interseeding, installed monitoring systems to collect baseline data on fields where BMPs will be implemented for watershed-scale evaluations, and set up research and demonstrations on other BMPs. Other research and demonstrations established at the site cover forage-based riparian vegetation buffers, runoff and drainage irrigation, and denitrifying bioreactors. Partners include several University of Illinois departments, Illinois Central College, the Ecosystem Services Exchange, Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB), and Fulton County Farm Bureau (FCFB). The Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council (NREC) funds two current research projects.
In 2018, a field day was held at the site in collaboration with IFB, FCFB, University of Illinois, and NREC. Participants included farmers, representatives from the agricultural sector and communities, and other stakeholders. Highlights of the field day included a demonstration of a bioreactor installation, results from cover crop interseeding, and drainage irrigation research.
