Abstract
Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution from agricultural, urban, and silvicultural land uses constitutes
the leading remaining cause of surface water quality impairment in the United States and a
primary driver of aquatic biodiversity loss, eutrophication, and drinking water contamination
globally. Best management practices (BMPs) represent the primary technical and regulatory
mechanism for NPS pollution control, encompassing a broad array of structural, vegetative, and
managerial practices designed to reduce pollutant generation, transport, and delivery at the field,
farm, and watershed scales. Yet BMP adoption by private landowners and land managers remains
substantially below levels necessary to achieve watershed-scale water quality goals, despite
decades of voluntary incentive programs, regulatory requirements, and extension outreach. This
paper presents a narrative review and conceptual synthesis of the literature on BMP adoption
barriers, enablers, and implementation pathways, drawing on published empirical research
spanning 1985 through 2023 across agricultural, silvicultural, and mixed land use contexts. The
review characterizes the economic, informational, social, and institutional determinants of
adoption decisions and identifies site-specific implementation pathway models that account for
landscape typology, landowner profile, and institutional environment as interactive determinants
of adoption likelihood and durability. The review finds that adoption is most strongly predicted by
program payment levels, social norm alignment, peer network influence, and technical assistance
quality, with significant interaction effects among these factors that vary systematically across
landscape and landowner typologies. Implications for BMP program design, targeting, and
adaptive management are developed. Cross-citations to related governance frameworks
developed in parallel work inform the institutional analysis.