Brief Historic Perspective NSL Research Program

1
Brief Historic Perspective NSLResearch Program
Sept. 2004

• Situation
• Before WWII, northern Mississippi was a
  devastated, impoverished landscape with deep
  incisions and gullies in the hills, recurring
  flooding, and associated sedimentation problems
  in the low lying areas in the Mississippi Delta.
• 1948Small scale sedimentation research project
  was initiated at Mississippi State University by
  the SCS as part of a flood prevention program.
• 1956This project was moved to Oxford
  Mississippi. Since 1953 this project has been
  part of the ARS research program. Major focus
  was on sediment gaging of streams in the 117 mi2
  Pidgeon Roost Watershed near Holly Springs, MS.

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Brief Historic Perspective cont

• 1959Construction of the oldest part of the
  current laboratory was completed. Studies
  included sediment transport and sedimentation
  processes. A minor role was assigned to research
  on sediment chemistry and the role of sediment as
  a pollutant.
• 1969A major new addition to the laboratory was
  completed and the research program expanded to
  include sediment yield measurements from small
  agricultural watersheds.
• 1972Program was further expanded to include
  erosion mechanics research with transfer of
  personnel from West Lafayette, IN Watkinsville,
  GA Morris, MN and Tucson, AZ. Also water
  quality research became part of the Sedimentation
  Laboratory mission with the passage of the CWA
  legislation.

3
Brief Historic Perspective cont

• 1976ARS Ecological Watershed Research had its
  beginnings with studies in Bear Creek, MS.
• 1977Stream system stabilization research began
  with the construction of grade control structures
  and stream bank stabilization measures in the
  Goodwin Creek (CGCEW) Watershed near Batesville,
  MS. This well instrumented watershed is now one
  of the premier ARS small scale (8.2 mi2)
  benchmark watersheds
• 1985The Demonstration Erosion Control (DEC)
  project was established on six Bluff Line
  watersheds in northern Mississippi. Goodwin
  Creek is a sub watershed in one of these DEC
  watersheds. The number of watersheds added to
  the DEC project increased over the years to 16
  with the last one, the Yalobusha River Basin,
  added in 1996. Construction of the most recent
  addition to the NSL was part of this project.
  Since that time, ecological research matured to a
  major research component of the NSL program.

4
Brief Historic Perspective cont

• 1989National Center of Computational Hydro
  sciences and Engineering (NCCHE) at the
  University of Mississippi was funded by Congress.
  NSL has the administrative oversight
  responsibilities.
• 1993Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)
  development was assigned to the NSL. RUSLE is
  the major soil conservation management tool in
  the nation.
• 1996The Mississippi Delta Management System
  Evaluation Area (MDMSEA) was funded. This was a
  major shift toward a more active role of
  conservation research on flatland and bottomland
  areas.
• 1999Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) research for
  the Yazoo River Basin was funded by Congress with
  subsequent increases in FY00 and FY01.

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Brief Historic Perspective cont

• 2002Inhouse Acoustics Research was funded by
  Congress, to complement acoustics research with
  the NCPA at the University of Mississippi.
  Subsequent appropriations were made in FY03 and
  FY04.
• 2003Sedimentation research on Mississippi
  reservoirs was funded by the U.S. Congress.

6
Summary

• In summary
• There has been a continuous expansion of the
  research mission of the laboratory. It started
  with sediment gaging in-streams in northern
  Mississippi. Over the years, responsibilities
  related to sediment deposition in lakes, sediment
  yield from agricultural watersheds, soil erosion
  mechanics, runoff water quality impacted by
  agricultural practices, aqua-ecosystem as
  impacted by sediment in streams and lakes,
  extramural hydro sciences and engineering model
  development in channel system, agro-acoustics
  research as it related to soils and sediment,
  TMDL research, and sedimentation in reservoirs
  were added.