Sugar Creek Watershed Selected for a National Water-Quality Study

Why study the Sugar Creek watershed?

Sugar Creek and the other four watersheds represent 

nationally important agricultural settings (chemical use, 

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

topography, and soils). Sugar Creek, which is part of the 

White River watershed, is representative of corn and soybean 

row cropping typical in the Midwest. 

Other features of the watershed that are relevant to this 

study:

• Use of agricultural chemicals: Chemicals used include 

fertilizers and herbicides, such as atrazine, acetochlor, 

metolachlor, and glyphosate.

• Distinct natural setting: Topography is nearly flat and 

clayey soils are poorly drained, which causes water to 

pond on the land surface unless agricultural tile drains 

are used. Tile drains “short circuit” the ground-water 

system by intercepting water percolating through the soil 

and shallow ground water and transporting it rapidly to 

streams.

• Variety of agricultural management practices: AMPs 

include conservation practices, traditional tillage, and use 

of tile drains.

• Water-quality issues: Herbicides have been frequently 

detected in streams; some concentrations were among the 

highest in agricultural areas sampled across the Nation. 

Although tile drains help protect ground-water systems, 

they also transport pesticides and nutrients to streams during the months when the tile drains typically flow.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is studying five 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 

watershed 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. The findings will provide information that 

will be useful for improving agricultural management locally 

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

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 084–03

August 2003 Printed on recycled paper

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The Sugar Creek 

watershed in Indiana is 

one of five watersheds 

selected by the USGS 

National Water-Quality National Water-Quality 

Assessment (NAWQA) Assessment (NAWQA) 

Program for a special 

study of agricultural 

chemicals and water 

quality.
What kind of data Why the data are collected How often

Meteorological data, including rainfall, 

wind speed, solar radiation, and air temperature. Soil temperature and moisture

To determine amount of precipitation and estimate 

amount that reaches the water table and how much 

is lost to evapotranspiration

Continuously for 2 years

Streamflow at two gaging stations: Leary 

Weber Ditch at Mohawk, IN, and Sugar 

Creek at New Palestine, IN

To interpret water-quality data correctly (the 

amount of water in streams affects chemical concentrations) 

Continuously since 2001 at Leary 

Weber, since 1967 at Sugar Creek 

(real-time data for both available 

at http://in.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/ )

Quality of stream water, runoff water, rain 

water, tile drain 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 

season

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 Sugar Creek Watershed, 2003–2004

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 discharging to streams, or 

run off across the land into streams, 

eventually moving downstream to 

reservoirs and coastal waters. This 

process can take days, weeks, or even 

decades if water moves underground 

through the ground-water system. 

We would like to thank

Purdue University, Depts. of Agricultural 

Engineering, Agronomy, and Environmental 

Engineering

USDA Natural Resources Conservation 

Service, Indiana State and Hancock 

County offices

Ohio State University, College of 

Engineering

Publication

Fenelon, Joseph M., 1998, Water Quality 

in the White River Basin, Indiana, 

1992-96, U.S. Geological Survey 

Circular 1150.

For more information

Nancy Baker, Lead Scientist, Sugar Creek study 

(317) 290-3333, ntbaker@usgs.gov

Paul Capel, Team Leader, National study

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

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

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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.