The NIFA-CEAP Watershed Synthesis: Issues with Data Availability.

The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) is an USDA initiative that involves the Agricultural Research Service, the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The overall goal of CEAP is to provide scientifically credible estimates of the environmental benefits obtained from USDA conservation programs. CEAP project types vary depending on the strengths and interests of the three different agencies. Information from the 13 USDA-NIFA funded CEAP watershed projects have been summarized by a NC State University led team in order to synthesize the lessons learned about managing agricultural landscapes to meet physical, biological, and chemical water quality goals. Linking water quality and land treatment requires the same temporal and spatial scale of data. Most NIFA-CEAP projects had significant difficulties obtaining conservation practice information due to restrictions on data sharing. Many projects had to devise alternative strategies to obtain information.