Measurements of landscape capacity for water detention and wetland restoration practices can inform watershed planning goals and implementation strategies

The paper by Tomer and Nelson (2020) demonstrates how measuring the landscape's capacity for water detention and wetland restoration can inform watershed planning goals and implementation strategies in agricultural regions. Using the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF), the authors identified and evaluated potential sites for water detention practices (like WASCOBs and wetlands) in three contrasting watersheds of the Yellow Medicine River basin in Minnesota, quantifying the storage potential and wetland creation opportunities. The study found that distributed, small-scale detention practices offer significant opportunities for flood mitigation and habitat creation, but the effectiveness and feasibility of implementation depend greatly on local landscape characteristics and the strategy for practice recruitment (targeted vs. open enrollment). The authors argue that precision siting data from tools like the ACPF can guide realistic watershed goals and support adaptive, locally-informed conservation planning at landscape scales.