ACPF Use Example: Buckeye Creek Watershed in Southeast Iowa

This example describes how the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) was used in the Buckeye Creek Watershed in Southeast Iowa to support watershed planning, set conservation goals, and prioritize field outreach. By integrating ACPF outputs with other datasets such as Iowa State’s BMP Mapping Project and NRCS’s RUSLE, the team was able to identify high-priority acres for sediment and nutrient reduction efforts, focusing fieldwork and funding on the most impactful areas. The process included extensive ground-truthing by the watershed coordinator and contributed to the development of a twenty-year watershed management plan, as well as annual targets. Best practices included systematically documenting ACPF analysis steps to ensure repeatability and effective use of results for stakeholder engagement and funding justification.