Manchester University (MU)
Manchester University monitors two sites (Appendices 1 and X) for nutrients in the Middle Eel River Basin in northern Indiana as part of the Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI). This study is a paired watershed study to test the implementation of agricultural BMPs to keep fertilizer and pesticides on the land and out of ground and surface waters. The two sites, PawPaw Creek and Beargrass Creeks, are sampled for total and dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus. Samples are collected six times a day in May and June during the prime runoff period for nutrients and pesticides and then weekly the rest of the year.
Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI)
As part of the Healthy Watershed Initiative, the Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES) at Indiana University Purdue University (IUPUI) monitors within the School Branch watershed working closely with some of the most conservation-minded farmers in Indiana. CEES monitors stream, tile drain, and overland flow sites within this watershed. A bio-swale installation is monitored to test whether this BMP is effective at nutrient removal within a heavily tile drained region. Since 2014, CEES along with MCPHD, IDEM, NRCS, and the USGS are sampling at different scales within this watershed, which also includes a continuous multi-parameter sensor site, for the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI). This NWQI monitoring work builds on the monitoring of 11 stream sites monitored by CEES from 2007-12. Two of the sites were sampled at the same location as MCPHD and IDEM (Appendices 1 and X). These two sites have been monitored between CEES, MCPHD, and IDEM since 1995.
Notre Dame University (UND)
Since 2006, the University of Notre Dame (UND) has monitored Shatto Ditch Watershed to quantify how water quality and channel stability have improved. To understand linkages between watershed-scale management practices and water quality, UND is measuring tile drain and stream water nutrient concentrations and loads by sampling 25 tile drains and 10 longitudinal stream sampling sites approximately every 14 days. In total, approximately 2,000 samples/year are collected. For each tile drain and stream grab sample, UND quantifies total suspended solids (TSS), nitrate-N, ammonium-N, total N, soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), total phosphorus (TP), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Using Hydrolab Datasondes (Hach) at the watershed outlet, UND records turbidity, temperature, pH, and conductivity every 30 minutes. In addition to the grab sampling, UND has real-time nitrate sensors (Hach-Satlantic) and prototype phosphate sensors (developed in collaboration with Dublin City University, Ireland) at the outlet of the watershed (installed summer 2015—funded through USDA RCPP); sensors collect data every 10 minutes and are validated with grab sampling described above. Since 2015, two of the stream sites are co-located with USGS stream gages (Appendices 1 and X).