title: The Role of County Surveyors and County Drainage Boards in Addressing Water Quality.
abstract: Water quality problems stemming from the Midwestern U.S. agricultural landscape have been widely recognized and documented. The Midwestern state of Indiana contains tens of thousands of miles of regulated drains that represent biotic communities that comprise the headwaters of the state's many rivers and creeks. Traditional management, however, reduces these waterways to their most basic function as conveyances, ignoring their role in the ecosystem as hosts for biotic and abiotic processes that actively regulate the fate and transport of nutrients and farm chemicals. Novel techniques and practices such as the two-stage ditch, denitrifying bioreactor, and constructed wetlands represent promising alternatives to traditional management approaches, yet many of these tools remain underutilized. To date, conservation efforts and research have focused on increasing the voluntary adoption of practices among agricultural producers. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the roles of the drainage professionals responsible for the management of waterways and regulated drains. To address this gap, we draw on survey responses from 39 county surveyors and 85 drainage board members operating in Indiana. By examining the backgrounds, attitudes, and actions of these individuals, we consider their role in advocating and implementing novel conservation practices.
authors.affiliation: Forest Research, Northern Research Station, Roslin, Midlothian, EH25 9SY, UK. michael.dunn@forestry.gsi.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Southern Region Headquarters, 21371 State Hwy 15, New Ulm, MN, 56073, USA.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mullendore
authors.affiliation: Cranfield University, College Road, Cranfield, MK43 0AL, UK.
authors.forename: Silvestre Garcia
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: de Jalon
authors.affiliation: Purdue University, 195 Marsteller Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47906, USA.
authors.forename: Linda Stalker
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Prokopy
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D007196:Indiana; D011640:Public Policy; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D060753:Water Quality; D062066:Water Resources / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards*; D053833:Wetlands
keywords: Best management practices; Conservation agriculture; County surveyors; Drainage; Indiana