Midterm Review – possible topics for questions
Fall, 2011
Assignments
August 22, 2011
Reading
o Ag Effect on Env Quality: Key Mgmt Issues, WQ-17-W
o Protecting Our Water and Environmental Resources, ID-255
o What was the main point of each of these articles?
August 29, 2011,
o Legacy Farm overview and culvert design
o What are the effects of these culvert design changes: height of fill, slope, culvert
diameter, number of culverts?
September 7, 2011, Reading
o Managing Soil Organic Matter: The Key to Air and Water Quality
o Why is organic matter content important?
o Why isn’t managing for erosion enough?
September 7, 2011
o Runoff calculations
o What does the SedSpec software measure?
o What was the effect on runoff of adding houses to the property?
September 19, 2011, Reading
o Home*A*Syst: Chapters 3 & 4
o Be able to identify low/med/high risks
September 23, 2011
o NRCS Web Soil Survey
o Why does soil type matter for basements, erosion of roads & trails, and septic
tank absorption fields?
o Can you match the rating description with the subject (e.g., crop productivity -
provide a relative ranking of soils based on their potential for intensive crop
production. An index can be used to rate the potential yield of one soil against that
of another over a period of time.
September 26, 2011, Reading
o Home*A*Syst, Chapter 5
o Be able to identify low/med/high risks
September 29, 2011
o Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Analysis (L-THIA)
o Can you rank the different land uses from those that cause the least runoff to those
that cause the most?
Due: Wed, 10/12/2011
o Conservation Program Planning
o Calculate cost-share, PLS cost, expenses
Due: Wed, 10/26/2011
o Runoff calculations, using NAPRA
o No Questions
Lectures
August 31, Water Overview
o Where is most of the liquid fresh surface water located?
o What is a watershed?
o List 2 recommendations for wells
September 7, Water Issues
o How much water use is agriculture responsible for?
o What is happening with the Ogallala aquifer?
o What are the issues with sediment and nitrates in the Gulf of Mexico, Atrazine,
PPCPs?
September 7, Soil
o Why so much concern about soil erosion?
o List factors that contribute to soil erosion
o Describe conservation practices
September 14, Waste Disposal systems (human)
o Draw and label an onsite waste disposal (septic) system
o Are Indiana soils suitable for conventional septic systems?
o Describe one practical alternative to conventional systems (for IN)
September 19, CAFOs
o What are the characteristics of CAFOs?
o What are the concerns?
September 26, Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs)
o Be able to write one recommendation or issue for each topic presented
September 28, Pesticides
o Describe/explain the difference in herbicide treatment types
o What factors are important with soil-applied and foliage- applied herbicides?
Why?
o What factors affect spray drift?
October 3, Wildlands and Wetlands
o List (3-5?) wild land components in a production ag setting
o How do wetlands improve water quality? What other benefits do they provide?
October 12, Urban Trends (and other topics)
o Rank land uses with respect to runoff
o What does a Stormwater basin do?
o List (3-5?) principles of smart growth
o What are the impervious surface % tipping points (protected, impacted,
degraded)?
o Discuss the climate trends map (slide 21), without color – what is it showing?
o What does the sketch showing land use in Atlanta and Barcelona (slide 25)
show?
October 14, Nonpoint source pollution analysis with NAPRA
o What does the NAPRA program provide?
o Where does IN rank in groundwater vulnerability?
o What areas of the state have more runoff (sketch on a map)