Pilot project on the Middle Branch Whitewater Watershed 1990 Hawkins, Jr., A. S., and J. L. Stewart. 1990. Pilot project on the Middle Branch Whitewater Watershed 1990. Report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, Winona, Minnesota, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Management Technical Center, Onalaska, Wisconsin, September 1990. EMTC 90-03. 34 pp. (NTIS # PB91-12265) ABSTRACT Water quality degradation, particularly sedimentation from eroding farmland, has been identified as the number one problem affecting floodplain wetlands of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Without accelerated implementation of soil and water conservation practices on farms, experts predict that thousands of acres of fish and waterfowl habitats will be lost within a few decades. In 1987, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated an interagency outreach effort to help farmers along the Middle Branch of the Whitewater River in Southeastern Minnesota develop comprehensive conservation plans and implement practices designed to save topsoil and protect water quality, while enhancing fish and wildlife habitats. The pilot project used computerized watershed modeling and automated monitoring of suspended sediment to establish a baseline of existing conditions that could be used in evaluating options and results. By focusing planning assistance of conservation district technicians and extension efforts on the target area, local farmers were able to complete comprehensive conservation plans covering over 95 percent of the agricultural land in the 55 square mile drainage area. The establishment of a three county Whitewater Watershed Joint Powers Board in 1989 marked the completion of the pilot project and the beginning of a watershed-wide assessment study to be used in targeting accelerated cost sharing assistance for conservation practice implementation. KEYWORDS habitat, degradation, watershed, computer model, Whitewater River