Bayou Wikoff Sub-Watershed: Water Quality Monitoring and BMP Implementation.

This study was initiated in order to quantify measures for implementation of best management practices (BMPs) that reduce in-stream total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) into Bayou Wikoff sub-watershed of the Bayou Plaquemine Brule sub-basin. Several sites were monitored including a pristine site to serve as a control area is a minimum-input tree farm. Land-use operations consist of minimum input tree farm where the grassed areas are never grazed and only infrequently mowed. Sugarcane sites include a standard practice of sugarcane burning prior to harvest and an adjacent site for implementation of a mulch treatment or “no-burn” BMP.Two pasture areas in which to monitor different forage BMPs and their influence on water quality and sediment losses were identified.  Primary differences were continuous grazing versus rotational grazing, stocking rates, and grazing period. Our results indicated that an average reduction of the concentration of the total solids in the effluent of 40% was achieved in the rotational grazing system rather than the continuous high stocking rate system.  Results from the pristine site and the pasture sites indicate that there is strong evidence that the presence of soil surface with grass cover throughout the year minimized sediment losses and erosion