The road less traveled: Assessing the impacts of farmer and stakeholder participation in groundwater nitrate pollution research

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Abstract
  • After decades of effort and investment to promote the use of agricultural best
    management practices (BMPs) to address nutrient losses from farms, the level of adoption of
    most BMPs remains relatively low. One increasingly common response has been to involve
    stakeholders more directly in research on local water quality challenges, with twin goals of
    improving the science and engaging local residents in the diagnosis of problems and development
    of effective responses. This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data to assess the
    impacts of a multiyear nitrate (NO3
    –) leaching study in a central Montana watershed that used
    a highly participatory research and outreach approach. For decades, the Judith River watershed
    has experienced groundwater NO3
    – levels that exceed safe drinking water standards, and
    many local residents install expensive water treatment devices, purchase drinking water from
    private vendors, or drink contaminated water. The project is notable for engaging local farmers,
    community leaders, and agency staff in the design, implementation, and interpretation
    of research to identify the sources of NO3
    – and to understand the effectiveness of alternative
    management practices in reducing NO3
    – leaching into groundwater. Two advisory groups
    regularly met with the science team to develop research questions, structure field research
    activities, select management practices, discuss interpretation of data, and design outreach
    efforts. Evidence of project impacts was gathered through interviews with our local collaborators
    and from a comparison of pre- and postproject surveys of the broader farm operator
    population in the watershed. The qualitative results suggest that the people most involved in
    the project became much more engaged with and concerned about how to address the local
    NO3
    – problem. The project’s research findings were also more compelling to stakeholders
    because farmers had been involved in designing and interpreting the data, and the research
    had been conducted under real-world farming conditions. Survey results collected in the final
    year of the project showed that farmers in the watershed were familiar with and had very
    positive impressions about the project, and their levels of awareness and concern about NO3
    –
    issues rose over the course of the project. However, widespread changes in farmer behaviors
    had not been detected three years into the project, and the impact of the project on long-term
    NO3
    – contamination trends in the region is still uncertain.
TitleThe road less traveled: Assessing the impacts of farmer and stakeholder participation in groundwater nitrate pollution research
CreatorJackson-Smith, D.
Ewing, S.
Jones, C.
Sigler, A.
Armstrong, Andrea
PublisherJournal of Soil and Water Conservation
Academic DepartmentEnvironmental Science and Studies
DivisionNatural Sciences
OrganizationLafayette College
Date Issued2018
Date Available2018-11-12T16:45:30Z
TypeArticle
LanguageEnglish
Keywordcrop rotations
Montana
nitrogen leaching
participatory research
Bibliographic CitationJackson-Smith, D., et al. (2018) "The road less traveled: Assessing the impacts of farmer and stakeholder participation in groundwater nitrate pollution research." Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 73 (6): 610-22.
Standard IdentifierDOI 10.2489/jswc.73.6.610
Handle 10385/2447
Permalinkhttp://hdl.handle.net/10385/2447
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Rights HoldersSoil and Water Conservation Society
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