Long-term database of Beasley Lake Watershed with 25 years of
agricultural conservation practices
Abstract
Beasley Lake Watershed is an agriculturally influenced drainage basin in
western Mississippi that has been intensively studied for 25 years. As
part of the USDA Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), the
watershed has archived hydrology, precipitation, and water quality data
in order to measure the effects of multiple USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service conservation practices on lake water quality. The
long-term database is available to researchers using a web-based
application, Sustaining the Earth’s Watersheds, Agricultural Research
Data System (STEWARDS). STEWARDS is a GIS-based data retrieval
application that encompasses spatial and temporal data collected from
multiple sites within the watershed. This data note describes
information located in the STEWARDS Beasley Lake Watershed database,
including hydrology, precipitation, and water quality data. This
information is valuable to researchers and agencies beyond the USDA as
an available and useful database to improve the understanding of how
land-use practices affect the water quality of shallow lake systems.