04-AgriculturalIntensity.Rmd

# Land Use of Area Surrounding Reaches

Each reach was given an associated land use. I mapped these to understand if certain areas of the watershed were dominated by a specific land use / agricultural intensity.

```{r landuse1, eval = TRUE}
flows %>%
  left_join(reaches, by = "reach_name") %>%
  ggplot(aes(x = long, y = lat, color = system_id)) +
  geom_point() +
  theme_minimal() +
  labs( fill = 'Agricultural Intensity',
        x = 'Decimal Degrees', 
        y = 'Decimal Degrees',
        color = 'Agricultural Intensity') +
  theme_minimal()
```

This map shows me that certain areas are dominated by single land uses. For example, I can see that the upper reaches are associated with non-agricultural land use. As we travel downstream, we go through an area of non-irrigated agricultural land, then a small urban area, and then the lower reaches are associated mostly with irrigated agriculture. Agriculture-dominated landscapes, particularly those that are irrigated by drawing water from the river, can be detrimental to the quality of wildlife habitat in that riverscape. Therefore, understanding where irrigated agriculture and other land uses fall within the watershed is an important part of understanding the overall watershed setting.