2019 SWCS International Annual Conference July 28-31, 2019 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1. Use and Support of ACPF within NRCS
July 31, 2019, SWCS, ACPF Symposium
Lisa F. Duriancik, USDA NRCS/SSRA/RIAD/Outcomes Team/CEAP

2. Co-Authors:
Lisa Duriancik, SSRA/Resource
Assessment/CEAP
Dee Carlson, Programs/Area-Wide
Planning Branch
Rafael Guerrero, Dwain Daniels and
Lyn Kirschner, S&T/Central NTSC
Steve Davis, Ohio NRCS
Jan Surface, S&T/Ecological
Sciences
Karma Anderson, S&T/Water Quality
and Quantity Team

3. History of ACPF in NRCS
• Conceptually based on CEAP Watersheds precision
conservation: assessments, techniques and findings
• Contribution Agreement from RCs and Iowa NRCS
• Tool development funded by 2 consecutive Conservation
Innovation Grants (S&T)
• Executive level regional plan to pilot ACPF in selected
regions
• Follow on pilot project funding from CEAP to CNTSC to
support an interagency agreement with ARS and
partners
• Training development and delivery
• Website development and hosting
• Assessment refinement
• CEAP Watersheds funding for tool evaluation and
development in PA
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4. ACPF use in CEAP Watersheds
• CEAP Approach: run ACPF in higher
or lower relief, different hydrology,
smaller field sizes, different preferred
practices
• Run; evaluate in known watersheds;
develop assessment approaches;
develop for new practices
• PA CEAP ACPF use:
• Mahantango Creek (CEAP), Spring
Creek (CEAP), Conawego Creek, one
more
• Landscape breaks, catchment size
effects, riparian buffer placement, DEM
resolution sensitivity
• Next steps: SWAT modeling coupled;
paired watershed assessment with
ACPF output, etc.4

5. ACPF use in CEAP Watersheds
• Tested or run so far in CEAP
Watersheds in:
• Iowa
• Indiana
• Georgia
• Work continues:
• Pennsylvania
• Ohio Blanchard River and Rock Creek
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6. WLEB ACPF PILOT WATERSHEDS
(A Variety of Landscape Slopes)
Seven 12 digit HUCs, Two states, Many Partners
ARS, NRCS, The Ohio State University,

7. OHIO ACFP PILOT PROCESS
Pilot Project:
 Invited partners to participate
 Selected pilot watersheds
 ARS held user training session in the basin
 ARS did hydro-modification, ran tool, checked
quality control on output (maps)
 Implement use, outreach, & planning activities
o Next Steps: Examine results from district
conservationist feedback, determine next
steps, costs, potential of scaling up.

8. Delivered Output Maps/Products To Field
Offices for Review
Via Password Protected Website

9. Fields Needing Runoff Control
WC PC OUT RC NPC All 7
Grassed
WW
%
Fields
20% 25% 51% 80% 26%
#
Fields
65 84 215 391 249 1,255
Contour
Buffer
Strips
%
Fields
0% 0.6% 6% 27% 0%
#
Fields
0 2 25 132 1 167
Wascobs
%
Fields
0% 0.6% 4% 13% 3%
#
Fields
0 2 17 64 24 125
Ohio Pilot Watershed Draft Data

10. CNTSC Support and Pilots
• Managed recent pilot project agreement
• Supporting interested states with GIS
expertise and tool knowledge (Dwain
Daniels and Lyn Kirschner, CNTSC)
• E.g., Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio
• Conducting new pilot to explore
operationalizing ACPF elevation data
preparation needs with Central Remote
Sensing Lab
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11. NRCS RSL Training on data prep for ACPF
• Processing LiDAR Elevation Data using
precision GIS technologies to support ACPF
• Facilitate the implementation of the ACPF
watershed assessment and planning capability
• Evaluated workflow procedures for mass
production of terrain and hydrological datasets
in different NRCS organizational units
• Five tools used to prepare data for ACPF
1. DEM: Pit Fill/Hole Punch
2. D8 Terrain Processing
3. Identify Impeded Flow
4. Visualize Flowpaths
5. Manual Cutter and Dam Builder
• Determined time and computing requirements
for tasks11

12. Purpose:
Provide support and assistance to NRCS staff and
partners:
• to use and adopt the Agricultural Conservation Planning
Framework (ACPF) database and toolbox,
• to effectively use ACPF results in watershed planning and
assessment
• to inform conservation practice implementation and
outreach strategies to enhance water quality efforts
New ACPF NWQI/MRBI Agreement

13. The agreement will:
• Determine NRCS current status of readiness for ACPF
• Support NRCS use of ACPF and planning products in MRBI and
NWQI watersheds and provide training
• Outline a process that facilitates active use of the ACPF toolbox for
watershed planning in any agricultural region.
• Provide a summary of results and recommendations for future use and
adoption of ACPF
Pilot states will be located primarily in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
Will coordinate with CEAP watersheds and others for additional pilot
areas to apply ACPF where it has not been previously used and evaluate
tool performance and develop tool capability
New ACPF NWQI/MRBI Agreement

14. Provide NRCS the tools and
recommendations necessary
for field offices to use ACPF
for watershed planning and
outreach.
Readiness
Assessment
Through interviews, online
surveys, focus groups,
and training evaluations,
examine current NRCS
procedures, knowledge
and capacity to integrate
ACPF into NRCS toolkit.
Broadly assess potential
long-term impacts of
spatially targeted
conservation.
Technical
Development
Build ACPF database and
toolbox results in pilot
watersheds. Determine
needs to integrate new
tools for NRCS needs into
ACPF toolbox. Assess
NRCS technical capacity
for readiness assessment
and serve as experts for
training & outreach.
Training & Outreach
Support training
development and
implementation designed
for both ACPF tool
development/output
productions and using
ACPF in watershed
management. Maintain
ACPF website and
communication availability
of ACPF resources.
Pilot
Watersheds
already in
ACPF Database
(Upper
Midwest)
Pilot
Watersheds not
already in ACPF
database
(Other US
regions)
New ACPF NWQI/MRBI Agreement

15. Iowa Water Center – Project
Management/Team Development
USDA- Ag Research Service
USDA NRCS Conservation
Planning and Technical
Assistance Division, Resource
Assmt. Div., CNTSC, and S&T
Readiness
Assessment
Purdue University
Natural Resources
Social Science Lab
Iowa State University
Natural Resources
Ecology and
Management
Technical
Development
Iowa State University
Agricultural Biosystems
and Engineering
Iowa State University
GIS Facility
Training & Outreach
University of Wisconsin-
Madison Division of
Extension
Minnesota Water
Resources Center
NRCS local,
state and
regional staff,
NRCS watershed
planning partners
CEAP
Watershed
Scientists,
ORISE
Participants
Partners

16. CEAP Watersheds Next Steps under
NWQI/MRBI ACPF Agreement
• Next Up:
• Choptank River subwatersheds in MD
• Flow accumulation and openness index option for
very low relief watersheds
• Riparian buffer placement
• Lower Mississippi River
• AR CEAP Watersheds
• MS CEAP Watersheds?
• Oklahoma
• Vermont
• Others?
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17. Use of ACPF Output in Assessment &
Ranking
• Conservation Assessment and Ranking Tool
(CART) v. 1.0 can import geospatial layers.
• States with ACPF outputs as a geospatial layers
could use them in prioritization of a ranking pool
in the State resource priority section of CART.
• As ACPF becomes available nationwide, NRCS
will consider incorporating ACPF outputs into
assessments of resource concerns in future
updates to CART.
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