The CWS was designed so the water entering the wetland can be routed to bypass any of these elements. This will allow the CWS to model many simpler wetlands, making it possible to directly compare the effectiveness of different pond types, different combinations of pond types, and different plant communities at removing agricultural chemicals from agricultural runoff and return flows. The information generated in this study will be used to improve CWS designs so that farmers will have a more economically feasible method of solving some of their own pollution problems. These all treat water from large areas, such as canal return flows. None of these allow replicated trials of different water flow patterns and different vegetation.
None is suitable to be used for small flows from a small, on-farm watershed.
To identify the specific requirements for reducing non-point source pollution at the Fairview wetland site, samples were collected from head water and tail waters of several fields, from irrigation canals that provide water to the site, and from the Snake River above the American Falls Reservoir. Construction of most of the CWS was completed in summer 1998. As of July, the sediment pond, the primary filter cells, and the shallow wetland cells were completed and have been test filled with water. The deep water pond and the control structure will be completed in 2001. Additional information about the Fairview Wetland Project is available at the Fairview web page.