Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 8:15 AM
309-1

Military Maneuvers: Effects on Water Quality and Implications for Training Land Use.

Niels Svendsen, CEERD-CN-C, PO Box 9005, Champaign, IL 61826-9005, Dick Gebhart, U.S. Army Eng. Res. and Dev. Cntr, 2902 Newmark Dr., Champaign, IL 61826-9005, and Prasanta K. Kalita, Univ of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1304 W Pennsylvania Ave, Urbana, IL 61801.

Constant military training is required to maintain a state of combat readiness for the US Army.  The majority of this training occurs on military installations, specifically training areas.  Over time, military maneuvers disturb the soil and vegetation, promote soil movement and impair surrounding waterways within and downstream of the training sector.  To alleviate these problems and maintain environmental compliance, the Department of Defense has created the Sustainable Ranges Program in an effort to identify regions where military training severely degrades environmental sustainability.  Identifying these regions allows military land managers the opportunity to coordinate training with land recovery efforts, ameliorate environmental issues and provide improved training environments for Army personnel.  This paper examines suspended sediment concentrations at a Midwestern military reservation and investigates the sustainability of military training on the installation.  This information is necessary to develop best management practices and best training practices that improve environmental compliance and ensure that the land will be available for military training in the future.