runoff

More than 20 million people play golf on the estimated 14,000 golf courses in the United States. As Americans head for the links this year, golf course managers and superintendents know it’s important not only to maintain the greens and fairways, but also to minimize the risk of pesticides and fertilizers flowing into nearby ponds, streams or lakes.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has developed a new web-based tool to help producers easily calculate the quality of water flowing off their fields.

It’s called the Water Quality Index for Agricultural Runoff, or WQIag for short, and this is how it works: Producers input variables about their field, such as slope, soil characteristics, nutrient and pest management, tillage practices, and, finally, conservation practices.