Graduate
Application of statistical and process-based modeling framework for cyanobacteria bloom prediction: Case studies in Kansas water bodies
Md Atiqul Islam, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Kansas State University
Aleksey Y. Sheshukov, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Kansas State University
Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (CyanoHAB) are considered one of the threatening issues for fresh water ecology across the world. Periodic blooms in Kansas and around the United States lakes, small ponds and water bodies have potential to produce toxins and taste-and-odor compounds that may cause substantial economic, public health, and environmental concerns. Predictive tools integrating cyanobacteria dynamics model and regular water monitoring datasets can be used for short term forecasting to facilitate early warning system for algal bloom management. In this study we attempted to develop a mechanistic modeling framework considering watershed modeling of contributing catchment and process-based modeling of cyanobacteria growth using in-situ data sets. Multiyear daily dataset from Cheney reservoir, Kansas was used to statistically correlate cyanobacteria concentration with nine environmental parameters which indicates water temperature, phosphorus and nitrogen as major stimulating factors for cyanobacteria abundance. Inverse correlation between dissolved oxygen and cyanobacteria presence indicates CyanoHAB as one of the major causes to deteriorate ecological health. We have also observed temperature, irradiation and nutrient (phosphorus, nitrogen) dependent growth rate curves in natural environment and compared with theoretical developed curves from past studies. We consider a physical process based non-linear dynamic model including growth factors (phosphorus, nitrogen, temperature, and irradiation) and biological interactions (growth and decay rate) to forecast bloom events. Temperature dependency on growth and decay rate was incorporated with commonly used theta model. Michaelis-Menten kinetics was used in multiplicative form along with temperature dependent theta model to have the effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and irradiation on the growth rate. A narrow range of parameter values from literature were used during model development and site specific parameter calibration. The temperature-only dependent model was also developed which could be applicable in data scarce and nutrition abundant context. We have used both modeling approach for Cheney reservoir, and Kansas River (Wamego) in Kansas using available historical data to forecast cyanobacteria abundance in 15 days prior. This forecasting tool linking with climate and reservoir watershed model would help to conceptualize future CyanoHAB prevention strategies, and its relation with climatic change, watershed condition, and nutrient abundance in the lake. This work was partially supported by the Kansas Water Resources Institute.
Conserving Kansas Communities Through Voluntary Group Efforts to Manage Ogallala Groundwater
Stephen Lauer, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University
Matthew Sanderson, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University
Background and Purpose: Rural farm communities in western Kansas rely on groundwater from the declining Ogallala aquifer. We present findings from a four-year, USDA-funded research project on the values and motivations for groundwater conservation among Kansas producers (farmers).
Methods: We conducted a survey of 1226 producers across the Ogallala aquifer region (279 in Kansas), 41 interviews with Kansas producers, and a case study of the Wichita County Water Conservation Area.
Findings: An overwhelming majority of Kansas producers believe that Ogallala groundwater should be conserved. Their primary motivations for groundwater conservation are securing their way of life for future generations, supporting their local communities, and preparing for droughts. While most Kansas producers believe that they are already doing all they can individually to conserve water, producers involved in voluntary group efforts like Local Enhanced Management Areas and Water Conservation Areas are finding additional ways to conserve. Voluntary group efforts have tremendous opportunity to grow. While only 4% of Kansas producers are currently involved in organizing voluntary group conservation efforts, 81% are open to the possibility that such efforts can solve problems and 79% believe they might personally have something to contribute. Successful voluntary group conservation efforts involve: diverse stakeholder representation, an early focus on team-building, hiring an outside facilitator, frequent, respectful community outreach, and partnering with state and local government.
Conclusion: Voluntary group efforts are effective at conserving groundwater and merit state support to help local organizers succeed and to create a social and political environment that encourages producers to participate.
High-resolution sensors for assessing the impact of rapid land use change on the processes governing stream biogeochemistry
Amirreza Zarnaghsh, Civil, Environmental and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kansas
Water quality in surface streams is highly affected by upstream land use, including the contribution of point sources (e.g. wastewater treatment facilities) and non-point sources (e.g. leaching from agricultural landscapes). Recently, the development of high frequency sensors has revolutionized the world of water quality monitoring and enabled scientists to gain a better temporal insight into stream processes, which are otherwise overlooked using traditional weekly to monthly sampling. Here we use a suite of sensors, collecting 5-minute data, to quantify anthropogenically-induced variability in water temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, turbidity, fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM), chlorophyll-a, phycocyanin, and nitrate (NO3–). Three watersheds in rapidly urbanizing Johnson County, Kansas, (population increase of 32% from 2000 to 2018) were chosen for this study, including the highly urbanized Indian Creek (98.3% urbanization), the mixed land use Mill Creek (67.4% urbanization), and the agriculturally dominated Blue River (20.8% urbanization). The watersheds provide a unique comparison as they are very similar in drainage area, soil composition, meteorological conditions, and geology, in addition to being adjacent to one-another, but vary considerably in land use. Further, Indian Creek receives approximately 22 MGD of wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) discharge, whereas Mill Creek receives 3.2 MGD WWTF discharge, and Blue River receives no WWTF discharge. Our results show that during August 2019, Indian Creek had the highest mean value of organic matter (fDOM = 28.56 RFU) and nutrients (NO3– = 2.54 mg N L-1) compared to Mill Creek (fDOM = 15.88 RFU, NO3– = 1.09 mg N L-1) and Blue River (fDOM = 15.12 RFU, NO3– = 0.27 mg N L-1). The results also demonstrated diel variations in the value of pH and dissolved oxygen which resulted from organism activity in streams. Our results indicate that point-source loading of WWTF discharge, high in organic matter and nutrients, could persist within urbanized streams. Continuous water-quality monitoring of these sites is to be continued for comprehensive evaluation and understanding of constituents’ variability and loading characteristics.
Lessons from local governance and collective action efforts to manage irrigation withdrawals in Kansas
Gabriela Perez-Quesada, Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University
The Ogallala aquifer is the primary source of irrigation water in western Kansas where the agricultural economy critically depends on this resource. However, the increased use of groundwater for irrigation is the main factor that explains the aquifer’s depletion. According to Scanlon et al. (2012), the High Plains aquifer is depleting faster in the central and southern regions which includes Kansas.
Local governance institutions that collectively manage a common-pool resource appear as a potential solution to promote water conservation. The objective of this study is to increase the understanding of how local governance and collective action can be efficiently implemented to manage irrigation withdrawals in Kansas. To accomplish this objective, we evaluate three collective management plans that are currently developed in the Southwest (SW) and Northwest (NW) regions of Kansas and Wichita County (WC). These plans are focused on the implementation of Local Enhanced Management Areas (LEMA) or Water Conservation Areas (WCAs).
Data sources include (1) a survey conducted by the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) in 2017 to obtain irrigators’ feedback on a potential LEMA or WCA in SW, (2) water right numbers of owners who have filed a lawsuit to challenge the legality of the LEMA in NW, (3) water rights numbers of owners who enrolled in the WCA in WC obtained from the WCA Agreements, (4) groundwater users’ testimonies from public meetings held by the GMDs, and information available on KDA web page. We also use data from the Water Information Management and Analysis System (WIMAS) program to obtain information about the attributes of the water right, historical use, location, and hydrology. In each region these data provide a measure of the support of local governance or collective action.
Based on the data gathered, we first use the general framework proposed by Ostrom (2009) to analyze how user’s expected benefits and costs affect their willingness to participate in collective action. Secondly, we evaluate the three cases following the eight design principles (DPs) for long-term institutions for collective action proposed by Ostrom (1990).
We find four main lessons: (1) a majority of farmers agree that action is needed to reduce the rate of aquifer depletion but management plans have not been successfully implemented, with the exception of the Sheridan 6 LEMA, (2) management plans that require voluntary participation have not received more support than those that require mandatory participation, (3) there is no clear evidence that heterogenous benefits from management explain support within a management area, (4) there is support for the presence of Ostrom’s design principles for collective action in the management plans, but further work on design is needed to deal with a complex system.
The Elinor Ostrom’s Nobel-Prize-winning work and most of the following empirical studies on management of common-pool resources are focused in developing countries. Our study will generate insights to academics and policymakers about the prospects for users to successfully manage common-pool resources in a developed country.
References
Ostrom, E. E. (1990). Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Ostrom, E. E. (2009). A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science, New Series 325 (5939), 419-422.
Scanlon, B. R., C. C. Faunt, L. Longuevergne, R. C. Reedy, W. M. Alley, V. L. McGuire, and P. B. McMahon (2012). Groundwater depletion and sustainability of irrigation in the US High Plains and Central Valley. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109 (24), 9320-9325.
Modeling nutrient buffering capacities in small scaled stormwater constructed wetlands
Daniyal Siddiqui, Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas
Edward Peltier, Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas
Stormwater Constructed Wetlands provide site-specific control by reducing nutrient transport to downstream water bodies. An efficient design of these systems requires the quantification of both watershed and wetland modeling parameters. Observed field data were used to model the watershed runoff and nutrient buffering capacities of two stormwater constructed wetlands receiving agricultural runoff from tile outlet terraced watersheds in Douglas County, KS. Hydrological models were developed to quantify rainfall runoff distributions dictated by the seasonal changes in the physical environmental parameters, including vegetation cover. High seasonal effects were observed as the modeled water level fluctuated between 25 inches in spring to about 2 inches in summer with a mean yearly water depth of 13 inches. Additionally, both stormwater wetlands produced higher detention times during the summer and early fall (July through September), but operated as flow through systems with much shorter detention times during spring storm events. The higher wetland detention times observed during late summer corresponded with better observed removals of total nitrogen and total and dissolved phosphorus. A relaxed Tank in Series model combining the first order k-C* model with a series of continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTR) was used to calibrate the pollutant removal parameters. Both wetlands were best fitted for a single CSTR system with relatively lower reaction rate constants representing a well-mixed system with low to mid-range average annual removal capacities. High and low intensity regimes of rainfall pattern were tested using the calibrated model parameters to examine the performance of the two wetland systems.
Nitrogen cycling and ecosystem metabolism in Kansas streams draining cropland vs. grassland watersheds
Kynser Wahwahsuck, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Kansas Biological Survey, University of Kansas
Norma Snelding, Haskell Indian Nations University
Amy Burgin, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Kansas Biological Survey, Environmental Studies, University of Kansas
Understanding stream nitrogen processes plays a crucial role in ecosystem science. Nitrogen cycling is well known in streams; however, we want to better understand how metabolism and nitrogen cycling are connected in streams that vary nitrogen supply due to different land uses. The Kansas precipitation gradient influences stream nitrogen supply as precipitation increases from west to east across Kansas. Furthermore, land use affects nitrogen supply resulting in high concentrations in streams draining agriculture fields and lower concentrations in grassland-dominated watersheds. This affects the in-stream demand for nitrogen that is determined by the stream microbial community that processes nitrogen via assimilation and denitrification. In this study, we sampled a stream with a predominantly agricultural watershed and a predominantly grassland watershed in eastern Kansas. To understand in-stream nitrogen processes and stream metabolism, we measured diel (day-night variation) patterns of nitrate concentrations, dissolved oxygen, and nitrous oxide (N2O) to estimate assimilation and denitrification. We asked: how does land use affect stream metabolism, nitrate and N2O concentrations? We predict that the grassland stream will have similar overall stream metabolism but will have smaller changes in nitrate and N2O concentrations due to overall lower supplies of N to the stream. Better understanding the effects of land use on stream metabolism and nitrogen processes will help specialists protect the biogeochemical integrity of stream ecosystems.
Nitrogen form and concentrations effects on lake microbiome biomass and toxicity
Janaye Hanschu, Kansas Biological Survey and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department, University of Kansas
Abagael Pruitt, KU Honors Program and Kansas Biological Survey
Bri Richards, Kansas Biological Survey
Amy Burgin, Kansas Biological Survey, Environmental Studies and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department
Cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) are a result of eutrophication that threatens water quality, which can have major ramifications for both human and ecosystem health. Eutrophication is the increased concentration of nutrients in aquatic systems that enhance primary productivity (biomass). In recent decades, human activities have increased the frequency and intensity of eutrophication, and therefore cyanoHABs, through both point and non-point sources of nutrient loading. Although phosphorus does contribute to cyanoHABs, nitrogen availability appears also to be correlated with toxin producing cyanobacteria; however, the mechanistic connections between nitrogen form and concentrations and the resulting effects on aquatic microbiomes and toxin production remain unclear. We used aquatic mesocosms (300 L tanks) to examine cyanoHABs in Kansas lakes and address two main questions: What form of nitrogen (nitrate vs. ammonium) fuels cyanoHAB development? (2) Do lakes that have historically high bloom frequency have more potential to proliferate a cyanoHAB under these nutrient regimes than lakes that has no prior history of cyanoHAB activity? We manipulated forms of N and concentrations in a replicated experimental design to provide insight into water quality management for lentic systems. We predict that there are higher concentrations of chlorophyll-a and microcystin in the historically higher bloom lakes and in the higher concentrations of nutrient additions. Experimental studies examining the drivers of cyanoHAB development and toxicity are important for assisting lake and landscape mangers in mitigating the potentially adverse effects of eutrophication.
Survey of Agricultural Water Microbial Quality in Kansas and Missouri
Joshua Maher, Food Science Institute, Kansas State University
Londa Nwadike, Food Science Institute, Kansas State University
Sara Gragg, Food Science Institute, Kansas State University
Introduction: Agricultural water, used in production or postharvest applications, represents a significant risk for microbial contamination of fresh fruits and vegetables. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR) requires produce growers to develop a microbial water quality profile (MWQP) of their agricultural water source(s) to help minimize risk of foodborne illness. These requirements are relatively new for produce growers and represent a significant investment of time and resources. Research and extension efforts that alleviate this burden on produce growers will help ensure compliance with the PSR and strengthen produce safety nationwide.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to perform a broad survey of the microbial quality of agricultural water used on Kansas and Missouri produce farms.
Methods: A convenience sample (n= 369) of agricultural water sources (surface, ground, or other) was taken by produce growers and some Extension personnel, packed on ice, shipped, and tested in the lab within 30 hours after collection. The 100 mL sample was tested using the United States Environmental Protection Agency method 9223 B, Colilert Quanti-Tray/2000 (IDEXX Laboratories, Westbrook, ME) to quantify generic Escherichia coli, the PSR-approved indicator of fecal contamination. Colilert reagent was administered to the water samples, added to the Quanti-Tray/2000, incubated at 36±2⁰C for 24-28 hours, and fluorescent wells were read. Generic E. coli test results were reported as MPN/100 mL.
Results: According to the FSMA PSR MWQP guidelines, the generic E. coli population in an agricultural water source must not exceed a geometric mean of 126 CFU/100 mL and a standard threshold value of 410 CFU/100 mL. Thirty-two samples (n=369, 8.67%) exceeded the geometric mean, while 22 samples (5.96%) surpassed the standard threshold value. Notably, 7 (1.90%) samples exceeded 2419.6 CFU/100 mL, the maximum reportable value of the Colilert test. Surface water (pond, stream, river) samples (n=181) contained the highest number of positive generic E. coli tests (153, 84.53%) compared to ground water. Additionally, out of all surface water tests, 28 (15.47%) were above the geometric mean, 20 (11.05%) were above the standard threshold value, and 5 (2.76%) were above Colilert’s maximum reportable value.
Significance: Overall, microbial water surveillance indicated the majority (91.33%) of agricultural water for produce sampled in Kansas and Missouri did not exceed the FSMA PSR generic E. coli geometric mean standard (126 CFU/100 mL).
Understanding how upgrading the Tomahawk Wastewater Treatment Facility affects Indian Creek sources of impairment, Indian Creek, KS
Jessica Wilhelm, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Kansas Biological Survey, University of Kansas
Amy Burgin, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Studies, Honors Program, Kansas Biological Survey, University of Kansas
Wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF) serve as a major point source of nutrients to streams and rivers, causing potential impairments to water quality. Indian Creek is one of the most urban drainage basins in Johnson County, Kansas, with both the Johnson County Douglas L. Smith Middle basin (MB) and Tomahawk Creek (TC) Wastewater Treatment Facilities discharging in to Indian Creek. In early Spring of 2019, the TC-WWTF went offline as construction began for a dual removal system. Our objective is to understand how cessation of WWTF inputs and upgrade of the new TC-WWTF affects the causes of impairment to Indian Creek. During summer 2019, we measured changes in stream water quality in Indian Creek without the presence of discharge from TC-WWTF. We sampled 11 locations along Indian and Tomahawk Creeks, focusing on baseflow conditions and locating our sampling sites with prior USGS sampling locations so as to draw on their background data from previous studies. Grab samples were analyzed for nitrate, soluble reactive phosphorous, total phosphorus, and ammonium. We found that nutrient concentrations were highest in locations just downstream of MB-WWTF (currently online), with observed decreases in concentrations moving downstream of the WWTF. The cessation of TC-WWTF operations for two years, and eventual recommission, offers a unique opportunity to isolate the effect of a major source of nutrients to the stream and the effects of increased nutrient removal in the new plant on water quality in Indian Creek.
Undergraduate
Designing and implementing a platform for remotely sensing high-frequency water quality data across an urbanization gradient
Alexandra Depew, Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas
The rapid urbanization of rural landscapes can degrade water quality at short (e.g. hourly) and long (e.g. annual) timescales. Recent research indicates that traditional water sampling frequencies (e.g. weekly to monthly) do not adequately characterize the sudden changes (i.e. sub- hourly) that can occur during large events, such as a storm surge. The objective of this study was to gain an improved understanding of stream biogeochemistry through the design and implementation of a platform for remotely sensing high-frequency (every 5 minutes) aquatic data. This data includes water temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, turbidity, dissolved organic matter, chlorophyll-a, phycocyanin, and nitrate. During the design of the platform, we considered field durability against weathering and vandalism, on-board data storage, remote telemetry, representativeness of field conditions, and ease-of-access for maintenance and calibration. This design was implemented at three watersheds in Johnson County, Kansas, an area of rapid urbanization and population growth (up 32% since 2000). The three watersheds range from little to intense urban land use: Blue River (20.8%), Mill Creek (67.4%), and Indian Creek (98.3%). At each watershed, the data-collection platform was affixed to bridge railing, and the sensors were suspended into the thalweg of the stream below. Each autonomous data collection platform is solar-powered, facilitates communication between multiple sensors, stores data on an SD card, transmits data over the internet, and has several measures in place to protect against low temperatures and voltage spikes. Our design has allowed for the collection of several months of high-frequency data, including during historic flooding, with relatively little downtime. In this study, we show the utility of using remotely-sensed high-frequency water quality data for improved understanding of stream biogeochemistry.
Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) Student Research Project in Cheney Reservoir
Maize High Climate Club, USD 266 – Maize
To understand the dynamics of the water quality and to predict the occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Cheney Reservoir, the primary water supply for Wichita and surrounding communities, Biology students of Maize High School conduct primary water quality sampling in partnership with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the University of Missouri’s Reservoir Observer Student Scientists (ROSS) Project. Alongside of data from the USGS Water Data for the Nation, students’ primary-collected data is analyzed using the Concord Consortium’s Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP) and the EDDIE Project’s R modules. June 2019 data analyses in CODAP indicate that phosphorus releases from sediment at a very distinct confluence of water quality parameters in Cheney Reservoir. Upon such sediment phosphorus “in-loading” in the reservoir, data also indicate it is at that point that phosphorus is taken in by algae and cyanobacteria, resulting in “harmful algal blooms”. Further, primary collected data analyzed with rLakeAnalyzer suggest that Cheney Reservoir does thermally stratify on some days, increasing the frequency of phosphorus upwelling and resulting algal blooms. In tandem, these data analyses suggest a reliable advanced indicator for the City of Wichita’s water treatment processes, as well as a significant cost saving measure for those systems. Students will demonstrate their water sampling techniques and their primary and USGS data analyses using CODAP and R and will highlight the monetary and healthcare value of no-till agricultural practices to farmers and to community and state stakeholders alike. A very special thanks to the United States Geological Survey, the Cheney Lake Watershed, LLC, the City of Wichita, Drs. Ted Harris and Jerry deNoyelles of the Kansas Biological Survey, and the Kansas Water Office for their mentoring and partnership around this work.
Hydrologic modeling along an urbanization gradient: application of the swat model to five Johnson county watersheds
Logan Wilson, Civil/Environmental Engineering, University of Kansas
Over the last century, conversion of rural landscapes into urban and suburban developments has had a significant effect on watershed hydrology and, in particular, stream discharge. Recent research has focused on modeling individual watersheds or rivers to validate field-collected data, but we find minimal knowledge for the application of these modeling tools along rural-to-urban land use gradients. This study investigates the hypothesis that rapid urbanization has had a structural impact to the drainage capabilities of multiple watersheds. To investigate this, we apply the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), a hydrologic simulation model, to determine how the discharge behavior of five watersheds has changed over a six-year period (2001 – 2007) during urban expansion. The location of this research was Johnson County, northeastern Kansas, an area of rapid urbanization and population growth (up 32% since 2000). We investigate five watersheds ranging from little to nearly-total urbanization: Kill Creek (16.7%), Blue River (20.8%), Cedar Creek (24.4%), Mill Creek (67.4%), and Indian Creek (98.3%). SWAT was applied to the watersheds and yielded satisfactory hydrologic modeling results that agreed with the observed stream discharge data. The results of this study show an increase in runoff in the more-urbanized watersheds, which can lead to significant water quality and discharge changes. These results are consistent with the increased impervious surfaces, and thus the decreased infiltration, that go along with the urbanization of an area. Future work will investigate the dominant sources of modeled uncertainty as a function of land use change.
Sediment Source Assessment Along an Urban to Rural Transition Using Stable Isotopes and Geochemical Tracer
Abigal Percich, Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas
Excessive watershed erosion affects water quality, aquatic ecosystem health, and the economic profitability of agricultural landscapes. Recent research regarding urbanization’s effects on sediment transport have investigated the impact of land use change on the source and quantity of sediment delivered to streams, however, we find that there is a lack of study across multiple systems undergoing varying degrees of urbanization. Our objective was to collect sediment data from multiple watersheds impacted by vastly different rural and urban land uses. To investigate our objective, we collect weekly isotopic (δ13CSed and δ15NSed) and geochemical (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn, Mo, Ni, K, Se, and Zn) data from five stream corridors over a year-long period to compare with data collected from a total of seven different sediment sources. These sources include streambank, grassland, woodland, cropland, construction, industrial, and residential. We conducted this research in Johnson County, Kansas, which is experiencing rapid urbanization and population growth (up 32% since 2000). The five stream corridors we sampled range from very little to near-complete urbanization: Kill Creek (16.7%), Blue River (20.8%), Cedar Creek (24.4%), Mill Creek (67.4%), and Indian Creek (98.3%). Our results indicate that the source of sediment entering Johnson County streams is impacted by not only the land-use characteristics of each watershed, but also the hydrologic conditions at the time of sample collection. These results are consistent with increased storm activity, which provides a mechanism to erode material that was previously unavailable for transport.
“Water” We Teaching?: A Content Analysis of Kansas Agricultural Education Course Competency Profiles
Zachary Callaghan, Department of Communications and Agricultural Education, Kansas State University
Dr. Gaea Hock, Department of Communications and Agricultural Education, Kansas State University
To meet the nutritional demands of a growing human population, agriculture, which is responsible for approximately 70% of worldwide water withdrawals annually, will need to adapt to offset current and future issues of global water scarcity (Mancosu, Snyder, Kyriakakis, & Spano, 2015). Evidence suggests that secondary agriculture, food, and natural resource (AFNR) educators can incorporate water scarcity into their pedagogical practices to produce a workforce that can combat these issues (McKim, Fornbush, and McKendree, 2018).
To bridge the issues of water scarcity in Kansas and possible solutions that lie within secondary agricultural education, this study used qualitative content analysis methods to examine the Long-Term Vision of the Future of Water Supply in Kansas (Kansas Water Office, 2015) and the 36 Kansas AFNR Course Competency Profiles (KSDE, 2019). Course profiles identify learning outcomes students should obtain as a result of taking a specific high school AFNR course.
The purpose of this study was to address the need of developing an educated workforce that can solve complex water-related issues of this century. The following objectives guided this study: RO1: Determine which Kansas AFNR courses and pathways prescribe water-related outcomes, RO2: Identify the specific Kansas AFNR course competencies that are connected to the Kansas Water Vision, and RO3: Determine the extent to which course competencies are related to the Kansas Water Vision themes.
Of the 36 courses included in this content analysis, 17 contained at least one water related competency (47%). Of the eight AFNR pathways, three are not incorporating water-related competencies (Agribusiness, Food Products and Processing, and Power, Structural and Technical). Of the pathways that do offer these learning outcomes, they still only account for a small percentage of their total number of competencies. More so, the level to which these outcomes are connected to water scarcity issues in Kansas, as outlined by the state’s Water Vision, is miniscule, as only 1% are strongly connected.
The findings of the study indicate a more rigorous review of Kansas AFNR Course Competency Profiles is warranted. When teachers come together to work on the profiles, they may not think about the grand challenges facing the agriculture industry, the state of Kansas, or global agriculture. Work needs to be done to include key state agencies, industries, and scientists to help teachers know what they should be teaching to prepare their students for future success.
Most courses could have some type of water-related competency built in without distracting from the goals of the curriculum. Many agriculture and water-focused institutions, such as the Irrigation Association and National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization, already provide curriculum focused on water scarcity topics. Also, it is recommended that a course specifically concentrated on water-related competencies be developed. Recommendations for future research include identifying teachers’ perceived ability to teach the water-related competencies, student achievement and career interest, and impact of changes on water practices in the state. It is also recommended that another content analysis of the state agricultural education competencies be conducted to identify key interdisciplinary challenges facing the industry.
References
Kansas State Department of Education. (2019). Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources. Retrieved from https://www.ksde.org/Agency/Division-of-Learning-Services/Career-Standards-and-Assessment-Services/Content-Area-A-E/Agriculture-Food-Natural-Resources-CTE-Career-Cluster
Kansas Water Office. (2015, January). A Long-Term Vision for the Future of Water Supply in Kansas. Retrieved from https://www.kwo.ks.gov/docs/default-source/water-vision-water-plan/vision/rpt-vision-call-to-action-sectiona2d9e11da40b6667970cff000032a16e.pdf?s fvrsn=c6d28714_0
Mancosu, N., Snyder, R. L., Kyriakakis, G., & Spano, D. (2015). Water scarcity and future challenges for food production. Water, 7, 975-992. doi:10.3390/w7030975
McKim, A.J., Fornbush, M., & McKendree, R.B. (2018). Sustainable Water Management Within Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Education. Journal of Agricultural Education, 59(2), 166-178 https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2018.02166
Oxygen Dynamics: How Open Water Oxygen Swings Differ from Submerged Aquatic Vegetated Areas
Evan Cortez, Kansas Biological Survey
Amy Burgin, Kansas Biological Survey, Departments of Environmental Studies and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
On average, Kansas watersheds are dominated by agricultural land use, with only ~10 percent covered by forests. Yet forested watersheds are thought to have enhanced protections for water quality compared to agriculturally-dominated watersheds, which can be plagued by high nutrient concentrations, over active algal communities, algal toxin production and fish kills. To understand the water quality in a lake embedded within a watershed that’s over 75 percent forest and grassland, we studied Alexios’ Lake in rural Douglas CO. Alexios’ Lake came to the attention of KDHE because the land owner experienced a fish kill in summer 2018 and was concerned about the potential causes given the high degree of watershed protection. To understand the potential cause of the fish kill, we collected high temporal frequency dissolved oxygen (DO) data using sensors. We coupled this to periodic field sampling for water quality parameters, including nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. We found that, despite a high degree of forested watershed, the lake is high in nutrients, particularly in the anoxic bottom waters (hypolimnion). The high resolution DO data indicates that even near-surface waters can experience periods of low oxygen, which could result in a fish kill. This study demonstrates the utility of using sensors to understand ecosystem level dynamics in lakes and reservoirs.