Hydrologic Outcomes of the Conservation Reserve Program

Barbed wire fence dividing green grass and dry reeds near a lake under a blue sky.

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For more than 40 years, the Conservation Reserve Program has compensated agricultural producers for returning highly erodible cropland to perennial vegetation and, more recently, for maintaining existing grasslands. Research has documented positive effects on soil and wildlife and has also elucidated CRP’s economic drivers and outcomes. However, the effects of CRP enrollment on the quantity and quality of water resources are less well-known, especially across large landscapes with different land management practices and baseline conditions.

Two women presenting research posters on boards at a conference.
Ladya Spor Leal (on left) and Rita Khadka present the research poster they created with Dilli Ram Bhattarai (not pictured) at the Nebraska Water Center Conference in Omaha on September 18-19, 2026. The three University of Nebraska–Lincoln students took first place in the conference’s student research competition for the poster, “Conservation Reserve Program and Hydrology in the Northern High Plains: An Integrated Model of Economic, Land-Use, and Hydrological Dynamics.” Photo courtesy of Kelsey Stremel, Kansas State University.

This USDA-funded research through the Farm Service Agency brings together University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty and students from the Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes, Nebraska Water Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Agricultural Economics, School of Natural Resources and Department of Agronomy and Horticulture to quantify CRP’s past, present and future effects on water quantity and quality in watersheds across the Northern High Plains Aquifer System of Nebraska and surrounding states. Key partners and collaborators outside of the university include the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture and U.S. Geological Survey. Project results will help prioritize conservation in agricultural landscapes for maximum hydrologic benefits.