Phosphorus Loading and Compositional Characteristics in Eight-Mile Run Watershed, Wisconsin
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to describe and quantify biologically labile and refractory phosphorus runoff in Eight-Mile Run, a small watershed in west-central Wisconsin that is impacted by dairy livestock management. BACKGROUND: There is a need to manage eutrophication problems in Corps of Engineers receiving waters by reducing losses of soils and associated soluble nutrients (primarily phosphorus) in intensively managed agricultural land-use sellings that are hydrologically sensitive to runoff. In many agricultural watersheds, livestock is contained in relatively small areas for long periods of time, leading to overgrazing and loss of perennial cover, disruption of the soil surface, and the buildup of nutrients in the soil via manure incorporation that can become a source to receiving waters during runoff events. Bank erosion and decimation of adjacent buffer strips by livestock that is allowed to forage along tributaries can flirther exacerbate soil and nutrient erosion and runoff. To forecast the impacts of watershed rehabilitation and Best Management Practices (BMPs) on hydraulic and nutrient loadings, models need to be refined to address the impacts ofvarious land-use practices such as livestock production and management on concentrations and loads of sediment and important nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus in rivers and streams draining watersheds. The objectives of this study were to examine phosphorus (P) loads and P compositional charac- teristics for a small tributary (Eight-Mile Run) impacted by a dairy livestock operation. Fractionation procedures were used to identify biologically labile (i.e., recyclable via chemical transformations or directly available for biological uptake) and refractory (i.e., unavailable for biological uptake and subject to permanent burial) species of phosphorus running off the watershed that can have an impact on water quality conditions and eutrophication of receiving waters in the basin.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA427500
Entities
People
- Harry L. Eakin
- John W. Barko
- William F. James
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center