One size does not fit all: Toward regional conservation practice guidance to reduce phosphorus loss risk in the Lake Erie watershed

Macrae, Merrin L.; Jarvie, Helen P.; Brouwer, Roy; Gunn, Grant E.; Reid, Keith; Joosse, Pamela; King, Kevin W.; Kleinman, Peter J. A.; Smith, Doug; Williams, Mark R.; Zwonitzer, Martha

doi:10.1002/jeq2.20218

Cited by 50 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 113 publications

(238 reference statements)

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“…As a consequence of shallower depth to groundwater and finer textured soils in Ohio watersheds, tile drains are likely installed closer to the surface compared to fields in Iowa. In addition, there is evidence that additional drainage is being installed to reduce the spacing between tile drains to facilitate additional drainage following rain events (Macrae et al, 2021). As a result, tile drains installed at shallow depths in Ohio fields with slow soil infiltration rates and shallow water tables create a more direct response to rainfall events observed in tile drainage outlets compared to deeper installations in fields with moderate infiltration rates and deeper water tables.…”

Section: Runoff Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tile drainage causes flashy streamflow response in Ohio watersheds

Miller

Lyon

2021

Hydrological Processes

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Artificial subsurface (tile) drainage is used to increase trafficability and crop yield in much of the Midwest due to soils with naturally poor drainage. Tile drainage has been researched extensively at the field scale, but knowledge gaps remain on how tile drainage influences the streamflow response at the watershed scale. The purpose of this study is to analyse the effect of tile drainage on the streamflow response for 59 Ohio watersheds with varying percentages of tile drainage and explore patterns between the Western Lake Erie Bloom Severity Index to streamflow response in heavily tiledrained watersheds. Daily streamflow was downloaded from 2010 to 2019 and used to calculated mean annual peak daily runoff, mean annual runoff ratio, the percent of observations in which daily runoff exceeded mean annual runoff (T Qmean ), baseflow versus stormflow percentages, and the streamflow recession constant. Heavily-drained watersheds (>40% of watershed area) consistently reported flashier streamflow behaviour compared to watersheds with low percentages of tile drainage (<15% of watershed area) as indicated by significantly lower baseflow percentages, T Qmean , and streamflow recession constants. The mean baseflow percent for watersheds with high percentages of tile drainage was 20.9% compared to 40.3% for watersheds with low percentages of tile drainage. These results are in contrast to similar research regionally indicating greater baseflow proportions and less flashy hydrographs (higher T Qmean ) for heavily-drained watersheds. Stormflow runoff metrics in heavily-drained watersheds were significantly positively correlated to western Lake Erie algal bloom severity. Given the recent trend in more frequent large rain events and warmer temperatures in the Midwest, increased harmful algal bloom severity will continue to be an ecological and economic problem for the region if management efforts are not addressed at the source. Management practices that reduce the streamflow response time to storm events, such as buffer strips, wetland restoration, or drainage water management, are likely to improve the aquatic health conditions of downstream communities by limiting the transport of nutrients following storm events.

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Section: Runoff Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tile drainage causes flashy streamflow response in Ohio watersheds

Miller

Lyon

2021

Hydrological Processes

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“…For the cost and effectiveness of BMPs in the agricultural watersheds surrounding the GL, we make use of the overview provided by Macrae et al. (2021). We vary the average unit cost of pollution abatement in agriculture in the sensitivity analysis, starting from CAD 10 thousand per tonne of TP removal, that is, the most cost‐effective BMP identified in Macrae et al.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We vary the average unit cost of pollution abatement in agriculture in the sensitivity analysis, starting from CAD 10 thousand per tonne of TP removal, that is, the most cost‐effective BMP identified in Macrae et al. (2021), and increasing the cost subsequently each time by a factor 10 to see up to which point no abatement measures are selected anymore by the model because it is less costly to reduce the sector's gross output. The results are presented in Figure 7.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The maximum abatement potential is set arbitrary in this sensitivity analysis to equal 50% of the baseline emission level. For the cost and effectiveness of BMPs in the agricultural watersheds surrounding the GL, we make use of the overview provided by Macrae et al (2021). We vary the average unit cost of pollution abatement in agriculture in the sensitivity analysis, starting from CAD 10 thousand per tonne of TP removal, that is, the most cost-effective BMP identified in Macrae et al (2021), and increasing the cost subsequently each time by a factor 10 to see up to which point no abatement measures are selected anymore by the model because it is less costly to reduce the sector's gross output.…”

Section: Sensitivity Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimating the Total Economic Costs of Nutrient Emission Reduction Policies to Halt Eutrophication in the Great Lakes

Garcia

Brouwer

Pinto

2022

Water Resources Research

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The Great Lakes (GL) in North America are among the largest freshwater resources on the planet facing serious eutrophication problems as a result of excessive nutrient loadings due to population and economic growth. More than a third of Canada's GDP is generated in and around the GL. Hence, the economic interests affected by pollution and pollution control are high. New policies to reduce pollution are often insufficiently informed due to the lack of integrated models and methods that provide decision‐makers insight into the direct and indirect economic impacts of their policies. This study fills this knowledge gap and estimates the impacts of different total phosphorus (TP) restriction policy scenarios across the GL. A first of its kind multi‐regional hydro‐economic model is built for the Canadian GL, extended to include TP emissions from point and non‐point sources. This optimization model is furthermore extended with a pollution abatement cost function that allows sectors to also take technical measures to meet the imposed pollution reduction targets. The latter is a promising new avenue for extending existing hydro‐economic input‐output modeling frameworks. The results show decision‐makers the least cost‐way to achieve different TP emission reduction targets. The estimated cost to reduce TP emissions by 40% in all GL amounts to a total annual cost of 3 billion Canadian dollars or 0.15% of Canada's GDP. The cost structure changes substantially as policy targets become more stringent, increasing the share of indirect costs and affecting not only the economic activities around the GL, but the economy of Canada as a whole due to the tightly interwoven economic structure.

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“…The region now contains highly productive corn, soybean, and livestock farms due to the widespread installation of tile drainage. Bedrock topography is smooth in this ecoregion and is thought to have little impact on hydrology due to thick deposits of fine-grained clay-and siltsize glaciolacustrine sediments and glacial deposits of Wisconsin age (Ohio Division of Geological Survey, 2005;Macrae et al, 2021). The Eastern Corn Belt Plains are slightly hillier compared to the Huron/Erie Lake Plain and contain glacial deposits from Wisconsin-age end moraines.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Tile Drainage Increases Total Runoff and Phosphorus Export During Wet Years in the Western Lake Erie Basin

Miller

Lyon

2021

Front. Water

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Artificial subsurface (tile) drainage is used in many agricultural areas where soils have naturally poor drainage to increase crop yield and field trafficability. Studies at the field scale indicate that tile drains disproportionately export large soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and nitrate loads to downstream waterbodies relative to other surface and subsurface runoff pathways, but knowledge gaps remain understanding the impact of tile drainage to nutrient export at watershed scales. The Western Lake Erie Basin is susceptible to summertime eutrophic conditions driven by non-point source nutrient pollution due to a shallow mean water depth and land use dominated by agriculture. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of tile drainage on downstream discharge, nutrient concentrations, and nutrient loads for 16 watersheds that drain to the Western Lake Erie Basin. Daily discharge and nutrient concentrations were summarized annually and during the main nutrient loading period (March–July) for 2 years representing normal nutrient loading period precipitation (2018) and above normal precipitation (2019). Results indicate positive correlations between watershed tile drainage percentage and runoff metrics during 2019, but no relationship during 2018. Additionally, SRP concentration and load were positively correlated to watershed tile drainage percentage in 2019, but not in 2018. Watershed tile drainage percentage was correlated with nitrate concentration and load for both years. The SRP concentration-discharge relationships suggested relatively weak, chemodynamic behavior, implying a slight enriching effect where SRP concentrations were greater at higher stream discharge conditions during both years. In contrast, nitrate concentration-discharge relationships suggested strong, enriching chemodynamic behavior during 2018, but chemostatic behavior during 2019. The difference in SRP and nitrate export patterns in the 2 years analyzed highlights the importance of implementing appropriate best management practices that target specific nutrients and treat primary delivery pathways to effectively improve downstream aquatic health conditions.

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One size does not fit all: Toward regional conservation practice guidance to reduce phosphorus loss risk in the Lake Erie watershed

Cited by 50 publications

References 113 publications

Tile drainage causes flashy streamflow response in Ohio watersheds

Tile drainage causes flashy streamflow response in Ohio watersheds

Estimating the Total Economic Costs of Nutrient Emission Reduction Policies to Halt Eutrophication in the Great Lakes

Tile Drainage Increases Total Runoff and Phosphorus Export During Wet Years in the Western Lake Erie Basin

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