MDARD invests in MSU IWR’s Great Lakes Watershed Management System
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EmailWith support from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Institute of Water Research at Michigan State University is enhancing the Great Lakes Watershed Management System to help reach the State’s Domestic Action Plan goals.
The Institute of Water Research (IWR) at Michigan State University (MSU) has received a $305,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) to help track progress on Michigan’s phosphorus-reduction goal for the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB).
The Great Lakes Watershed Management System (GLWMS) is an online tool used to evaluate, track, and report water quality and groundwater recharge improvements at the watershed and field-level scales. The system allows users to evaluate effects on sediment and nutrient loading, in addition to groundwater recharge based on changes in land use/land cover or management strategies.
More than $17 million has been invested in the development of the GLWMS and the conservation projects it supports, which includes funding from The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Coca-Cola, Method Company, Delta Institute, State of Michigan, Purdue University, and MSU.
GLWMS has enabled these organizations to track and quantify their investments in conservation across multiple scales. To do this, the GLWMS uses an open platform that can utilize various models to evaluate land management changes. These models include the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, HYDRUS 3D, and the NRCS Wind Erosion Prediction System, among others.
MDARD’s latest investment in the GLWMS will produce a new tracking interface that enables the State of Michigan departments of Agriculture and Rural Development; Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; and Natural Resources to quantify and track progress toward phosphorus load reduction goals in in the WLEB.
IWR is working closely with the State to develop a customized dashboard that will include key indicators and critical metrics identified by project stakeholders. In addition, existing models will be expanded to include watersheds not currently covered, and IWR will expand the types of best management practices available in the GLWMS. The nutrient tracking dashboard prototype interface and concept was presented at Michigan’s inaugural State of WLEB conference in December 2023.
“We are excited about expanding our partnership with MDARD to address the nutrient loading issues in the WLEB,” said IWR Assistant Director Jeremiah Asher. “Utilizing the GLWMS and the near real-time nutrient tracking dashboard to quantify nutrient reductions from investments in conservation is a game changer. The GLWMS can also help guide future investments in conservation practices to focus more on performance-based outcomes, allowing conservation dollars to have a greater impact.”
“Thanks to Governor Whitmer’s bipartisan budget, MDARD is investing in the critical data collection and tracking needed to demonstrate what’s actually working, to better inform program decisions, and help producers understand where the phosphorus is coming from,” said Dr. Tim Boring, MDARD Director. “Research is critical to advancing progress to determine where, when, and how to reduce phosphorus loading and to understand how phosphorus is transported from fields into tributaries. Expanded research is an essential cornerstone because there are still far too many unknowns when it comes to long-term water quality improvement.”
IWR has begun development of the nutrient tracking dashboard and will begin populating it with test datasets this year. Stakeholders can sign up at www.michigan.gov/mdard/about/media/email to receive email updates from MDARD to be notified when the GLWMS online tool is available to the public.
