DETERIORATION OF SURFACE WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY ARE A POTENTIAL THREAT TO AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN MISSISSIPPI DELTA AS INDICATED BY GROUND-WATER DEPLETION AND REDUCTION IN BASE-FLOW. SPATIO-TEMPORAL SCALES OF LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGES (LULC) HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED TO IMPROVE SURFACE WATER RESOURCES AND GROUND WATER RECHARGE IN THE AREA. HOWEVER THE DOWNSTREAM WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY IMPACTS OF THESE CHANGES HAVE NOT BEEN QUANTIFIED. EVALUATION OF THESE CHANGES REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE OF SURFACE AND SUB-SURFACE WATER INTERACTIONS, POLLUTANT (E.G. NUTRIENTS) TRANSPORT PROCESS, AND THEIR SPATIO-TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTIONS WITHIN WATERSHED ECOSYSTEMS. THE MAGNITUDE OF WATER QUALITY DEGRADATION PROCESSES CAN BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD BY QUANTIFYING IMPACTS OF LULC SCENARIOS AT THE WATERSHED SCALE. AN ASSESSMENT OF THESE PROCESSES IS ESSENTIAL TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF WATER QUANTITY AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS.THIS PROJECT WILL EVALUATE SURFACE WATER QUALITY (SUSPENDED SOLIDS, PHOSPHORUS, NITROGEN LOADS) AND QUANTITY (E.G. WATER YIELD, STREAM FLOW) IMPACTS DRIVEN BY IMPLEMENTATION OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SCALES OF LULC CHANGES AND CROP MANAGEMENT PRACTICES WITHIN THE BIG SUNFLOWER RIVER WATERSHED (BSRW) IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA. BOTH FIELD OBSERVED AND GEOSPATIAL DATA WILL BE UTILIZED WITH A BIOPHYSICAL PREDICTIVE TOOL TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF MITIGATION STRATEGIES ON SEDIMENT AND NUTRIENT LOADINGS. PREDICTIVE TOOLS WILL INCLUDE, USDA SUPPORTED SOIL AND WATER ASSESSMENT TOOL (SWAT) MODEL. THE CALIBRATED AND VALIDATED SURFACE WATER MODEL RESULTS WILL BE UTILIZED TO EVALUATE SURFACE-SHALLOW GROUND WATER PROCESSES AND WATER QUALITY IMPACTS DUE TO LULC WITHIN THE WATERSHED AGROECOSYSTEMS. SEVERAL EXTENSION AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES WILL BE INCLUDED TO EDUCATE STUDENTS, FACULTY, WATERSHED STAKEHOLDERS, PRODUCERS, AND MINORITIES THROUGH SEMINAR, RESEARCH, AND PRESENTATIONS.