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Making Our Nonpoint Source Pollution Education Programs Effective

Volume

37

Issue

5

Abstract

Educational programming is a common part of most watershed protection projects, but education strategies vary greatly from project to project, and from educator to educator. The amount of information and the way it is delivered also varies. Educational programming provides information to landowners in order to encourage environmentally beneficial action, such as the installation of best management practices. Education strategies, especially those that seek to reduce nonpoint source pollution from agriculture, generally rely on a combination to two approaches. The first uses diffuse communication campaign methods to disseminate information, somewhat randomly, over a wide area. The second comprises one-on-one information transfer techniques such as on-farm visits and individual farm trials. To assess the effects of these two educational approaches, the rate of adoption of nutrient management strategies by farmers in two different Wisconsin watersheds between 1990 and 1995 was compared. The study found that by focusing educational programming through one-on-one information transfer techniques the adoption of specific nutrient management practices increased and the application of excessive nitrogen and phosphorus decreased.

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