Conservation Effects Assessment Project

The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) was established in 2002 to quantify the environmental impact of the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) conservation program. The project focuses on how watersheds are affected. CEAP monitored 14 benchmark watershed sites. The CEAP's vision is to enhance "natural resources and healthier ecosystems through improved conservation effectiveness and better management of agricultural landscapes. The goal is "to improve efficacy of conservations practices and programs by quantifying conservation effects and providing the science and education base needed to enrich conservation planning, implementation, management decisions, and policy."

The Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is supported by the USDA Agricultural Research Service. It is a river basin scale model used to quantify the impact of land management practices in large watersheds. This tool is located in Grassland, Soil and Research Laboratory in Temple, Texas.

Sustaining the Earth's Watershed-Agricultural Research Data Systems (STEWARDS) was created by a group called the Watershed Assessment Studies a team within the CEAP. STEWARDS is a system that consists of a database to allow users to search and analyze various watershed conditions. The anticipated benefits include data preservation, faster data access, and improved ability to collaborate research between watersheds.

Lead USDA agencies

Additional partners

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