The North Bosque River watershed of central Texas hosts a large portion of diary
production in the state. In recent years, the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ), formerly known as the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission (TNRCC), has applied a Total Maximum Daily Load Program for soluble
phosphorus to the watershed. Best management practices (BMPs) are now necessary to
remedy the issue of excess phosphorus.
This thesis explores the application of GIS as an agricultural planning tool in
support of a BMP for the region. The suggested BMP calls for the production of
turfgrass sod using composted dairy manure; this sod is then transported at a profit from
the watershed and provides an economically sustainable means to reduce the nutrient
loading in the watershed. Using GIS, a geospatial database was developed with
available data from government and institutional sources. As part of the development
process, these sites were verified by field technicians and the results were combined in
the GIS to refine the database. This database demonstrates the suitability of GIS as a
tool for large-scale planning in agriculture.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/291 |
| Date | 30 September 2004 |
| Creators | Hanzlik, Jeremy Edward |
| Contributors | Munster, Clyde |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | 1044626 bytes, 79935 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, text/plain, born digital |
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