Seasonal water quality changes in on-farm water storage systems in a south-central U.S. agricultural watershed

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the ability of on-farm water storage (OFWS) systems to mitigate off-site nutrient movement in a south-central U.S. agricultural watershed. We examined the seasonal water quality changes in an OFWS system by measuring several physical and chemical constituents at multiple sampling points throughout the system. Water quality sampling occurred every three weeks during the growing season and every six weeks during the dormant season from February 2012 to December 2014. The collected data were grouped into four seasons and then analyzed using boxplots along with the Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis rank-sum tests for detecting changes in nutrient concentrations. Significant water quality changes were observed in the OFWS system by season and nutrient species, indicating a variation in downstream nutrient reduction with season. The in-ditch median removal efficiency, from the center of the tailwater recovery ditch to the outlet, was 54% during winter and 50% during spring for NO 3-N; 60% during spring for NH 3-N; 26% during autumn and 65% during winter for ortho-P; and 31% during winter and 10% during spring for TP. The in-pond median concentration removal efficiency was ~77% during summer for NO 3-N, while the concentration remained stable during winter, spring and autumn; 53% from winter to spring and 58% from spring to summer for NH 3-N; 70% from winter to spring for ortho-P, while remaining stable during the other seasons; and 28% from winter to spring and 55% from spring to summer for TP. Our results support the hypothesis that OFWS systems could mitigate downstream nutrient-enrichment pollution, especially during spring. The results obtained from this study offer a better insight into the behavior of OFWS systems and help enhance the management of agroecosystems from an ecological and hydrological perspective for water quality pollution control and water resource conservation.

Artificial Aquatic Ecosystems

“…Equally in the U.S., habitats that we presently tend to overlook, such as stormwater treatment wetlands, can sometimes be the best available sites for reproduction of amphibians and other species with specific hydrologic needs [89]. Artificial aquatic systems, whether designed for the purpose or not, have improved water quality in critical watersheds like the Mississippi River basin [90][91][92]. Additional examples of ecosystem services provided by artificial aquatic systems appear in Table A1.…”

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Water Quality in the Bystrzyca River Basin, Poland

“…These pollutants can be associated with intensive land use (fertilizers and pesticides) as well as industrial production (waste and sludge). Nitrogen and phosphorus compounds contribute to the eutrophication of water and the deterioration of the quality of aquatic ecosystems [60][61][62]. The negative correlation of the VF1 factor with pH level indicates that when the parameter has low values, carbon and calcium can be released from carbonate rocks.…”

Nonpoint Source Pollution

“…The predictions suggested that substantial reduction in pollutant discharge will not be achieved due to the implementation of source control. -Gutiérrez et al (2017) studied the ability of on-farm water storage (OFWS) systems to mitigate off-site nutrient movement in a south-central U.S. agricultural watershed. They inspected the seasonal water quality changes in an OFWS system by measuring several physical and chemical constituents at multiple sampling points.…”