This thesis explores the potential impacts of the implementation of best management practices (BMPs) in Upper Roberts Creek (URC) watershed in northeast Iowa as part of the Iowa Nutrient Research Center (INRC). The INRC was formed in response to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirement that the states along the Mississippi River develop and implement strategies for reducing the nutrient load leaving their states and entering the Gulf of Mexico. The impacts of BMP implementation in URC were evaluated through the use of HydroGeoSphere which was used to develop a three dimensional, coupled surface/subsurface model of the watershed.
The URC model was used to evaluate the hypothetical impacts of the widespread implementation of cover crops on agricultural land within the watershed, the construction of eight Iowa Conservation Enhancement Reserve Program (CREP) style wetlands, and the combination of these two BMPs. Through the comparison of these simplified, hypothetical scenarios to a baseline condition, potential nitrate load reduction estimates were made for each practice or combination of practices. These estimates indicate that neither of the individual practices would be likely to achieve the nitrogen reductions targeted by the EPA and in order to achieve these goals a combination of practices would likely be required.