STEWARDS—for Access to Vital Watershed Data

nternet access to data representing the vital signs of key watersheds could be among the eventual benefits from an ARS program that’s now being expanded. A Web-based data system developed by a team of ARS researchers, data managers, and information-technology staff, the program compiles, documents, and organizes information on climate, water, and soil as well as on management and economic practices. Called “STEWARDS”—for Sustaining the Earth’s Watersheds: Agricultural Research Data System—the system is being set up as part of the wide-ranging Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP). That’s a Farm Bill-driven initiative focused on measuring the environmental effects and benefits of USDA conservation programs. (See “Conservation: Are We Getting Our Money’s Worth?” Agricultural Research, December 2005, pp. 4-8.)