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Variability of water quality in a riparian wetland with interacting shallow groundwater and surface water
Author(s) -
Schmalz Britta,
Springer Pina,
Fohrer Nicola
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.200800268
Subject(s) - ditch , hydrology (agriculture) , groundwater , environmental science , water quality , surface water , riparian zone , drainage basin , wetland , floodplain , geology , ecology , geography , environmental engineering , biology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , habitat
Lowland catchment hydrology is dominated by shallow groundwater with complex interactions between groundwater and surface water. In lowland catchments of N Germany, a high fraction of agricultural land is drained and therefore influenced by fast water transport to discharge systems with resulting alterations to water quality. The investigated catchment area “Kielstau” (approx. 50 km 2 ) in the N of Schleswig‐Holstein serves as an example. Detailed investigations on the interactions between groundwater, river, and ditch‐water quality were evaluated at a drained riparian wetland area (0.15 km 2 ) used as grassland in the central part of this catchment. The water quality in the drainage ditches showed variability dependent on their hydrological integration. At the far‐from‐river end, groundwater and ditch‐water quality were in most parameters much more alike than at the close‐to‐river end. The composition of ditch water at the close‐to‐river end of the ditch was determined by transformation processes and dilution which took place along the ditch much more than exfiltration processes like those that were dominant at the far‐from‐river end. In most cases, the mean NH $ _4^+ $ concentrations were higher in the groundwater than in the ditches, but the highest concentrations were found all along the time in the close‐to‐river sampling points and in the river. The highest NO $ _3^- $ concentration was observed in a ditch influenced by an adjacent arable field as well as in the river. The concentrations of phosphate and total P were lower in groundwater than in the ditch water.