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 Bogue Phalia Watershed in Mississippi Selected for a National WaterQuality Study 

 The Bogue Phalia 

watershed in 

northwestern 

Mississippi is one of 

seven watersheds 

selected by the USGS 

National WaterQuality Assessment 

(NAWQA) Program 

for a special study 

of agricultural 

chemicals and water 

quality. 

 Why study the Bogue Phalia watershed? 

 The Bogue Phalia and the other six watersheds represent nationally important agricultural settings (chemical use, crops, and 

AMPs) and natural settings (climate, geology, topography, and 

soils). The Bogue Phalia, which is part of the Yazoo River watershed, is representative of cotton, rice, and soybean row cropping 

in the humid, subtropical southeastern United States. 

 Other features of the watershed relevant to this study: 

 • Use of agricultural chemicals: Chemicals used include herbicides such as atrazine, metolachlor, and glyphosate; insecticides such as methyl parathion and malathion; and fertilizers, 

both organic and inorganic. 

 • Distinct natural setting: Rich alluvial soils, a long growing 

season, and a plentiful water supply (both rainfall and ground 

water) make the Bogue Phalia watershed one of the most agriculturally productive areas in the Nation. High annual rainfall 

combined with the flat topography and relatively impermeable clay soils increases the amount of water and chemicals 

that move overland to streams and into the Bogue Phalia. 

 • Variety of agricultural management practices: AMPs include 

tillage and no-tillage; use of central pivot irrigation; grassy 

waterways; landforming; use of slotted board risers, edge-offield buffer strips, and riparian buffer zones. 

 • Water-quality issues: Pesticides, especially herbicides, have 

been frequently detected in surface water, rainfall, and in the 

atmosphere in the alluvial plain of the Mississippi River (findings of USGS studies since the 1990s). 

 The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is studying seven watersheds across the Nation to better understand how natural factors 

and agricultural management practices (AMPs) affect the transport of water and chemicals. Natural factors include climate and 

landscape (soil type, topography, geology), and AMPs include 

practices related to tillage, irrigation, and chemical application. 

The study approach is similar in each watershed so that we can 

compare and contrast the results and more accurately predict 

conditions in other agricultural settings. 

 Study objectives 

 • Understand the links between the sources of water and 

agricultural chemicals (nutrients and pesticides) and their 

behavior and transport through the environment 

 • Predict the behavior and transport of water and agricultural 

chemicals in other agricultural areas not being studied 

 • Evaluate what the study results mean for management of 

water and water quality in a variety of agricultural settings 

 We appreciate your help 

 We are working with local growers and land owners to gain 

access to study sites. We also need information about the study 

area and about current as well as historical agricultural management practices—past practices also affect concentrations of 

agricultural chemicals in ground and surface water. 

 We will report the findings of the study in public meetings 

and in publications. These findings will provide information that 

will be useful for improving agricultural management locally 

and nationally, and will guide future studies in other watersheds. 

 Fact Sheet 2005-3050

 May 2005 

 U.S. Department of the Interior 

 U.S. Geological Survey Printed on recycled paper
What kind of data Why the data are collected How often

Meteorological data, including rainfall, 

wind speed and direction, solar radiation, 

and air temperature. Soil data, including 

temperature and moisture

To determine amount of precipitation, how much 

water from land surface reaches the water table, 

and how much is lost to evapotranspiration

Continuously for 2 years

Amount of streamflow at Bogue Phalia 

near Leland, MS, gaging station and at an 

unnamed tributary upstream of the gaging 

station

To interpret water-quality data correctly (the 

amount of water in streams affects chemical concentrations) 

Continuously (since 1995) 

at Bogue Phalia. Real-time 

data available at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ms/nwis/uv?site_

no=07288650

Quality of stream water, runoff water, and 

rain water1

To quantify the transport and behavior of natural 

and agricultural chemicals

Several times a year (>14 

samples) for 2 years, with intensive sampling during application 

seasons

Ground-water levels in wells To determine direction of ground-water flow, 

which affects transport of chemicals

At least quarterly in some wells, 

continuously in others for at least 

1 year

Quality of ground water, soil water, and 

shallow water in and around streambed/riparian zone1

To quantify the transport and behavior of natural 

and agricultural chemicals

At least quarterly for 1 year

Quality of sediment in streambed and soils 

in agricultural fields1

To quantify the storage, behavior, and transport of 

water and chemicals in the soils and sediment

At least once during study

 1

In this study, water-quality and sediment-quality data include concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous), pesticides and pesticide breakdown 

products, and natural constituents and properties, including major ions (calcium, magnesium, chloride, etc.), organic carbon, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. 

 Data Collection in the Bogue Phalia Watershed, 2007–2008 

 We would like to thank 

 Delta Council 

 Mississippi State University 

 Yazoo Mississippi Delta Joint Water 

Management District 

 Publication 

 Kleiss, B.A., Coupe, R.H., Gonthier, 

G.J., and Justus, B.G., 2000, Water 

Quality in the Mississippi Embayment, 

Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, 

Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky, 

1995-98, U.S. Geological Survey 

Circular 1208, 36 p. Available online 

at http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/

circ1208/ 

 For more information 

 Richard Coupe, Lead Scientist

(601) 933-2982, rhcoupe@usgs.gov 

 Paul Capel, Team Leader, National study

(612) 625-3082, capel@usgs.gov 

 NAWQA Program http://water.usgs.gov/

nawqa 

 The USGS provides reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property 

from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. 

 At a typical study site, several methods 

are used to collect water and chemical 

samples from the air, soil, surface 

water, and ground water.

After being applied to the land 

surface, agricultural chemicals can 

move upward into the atmosphere, 

downward through the soil to shallow 

ground water and underlying aquifers, 

eventually discharge to streams or 

run off across the land into streams, 

and move downstream to reservoirs 

and coastal waters. This process can 

take days, weeks, or even decades if 

water moves underground through the 

ground-water system. 

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