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Land cover impacts on storm flow suspended solid and nutrient concentrations in southwest Ohio streams
Author(s) -
Lazar Jeffrey A.,
Spahr Rachel,
Grudzinski Bartosz P.,
Fisher Thomas J.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.1002/wer.1054
Subject(s) - environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , water quality , watershed , land cover , agricultural land , storm , land use , ecoregion , total suspended solids , nitrate , streams , environmental engineering , ecology , wastewater , oceanography , geology , chemical oxygen demand , biology , geotechnical engineering , machine learning , computer science , computer network
Impacts between urban and agricultural land cover on storm flow water quality are poorly understood for the Eastern Corn Belt Ecoregion in SW Ohio. Storm flow water samples were collected from May 2017 to October 2017 across seven SW Ohio watersheds which ranged in urban land cover from 6% to 92% and in agricultural land cover from 4% to 70%. Two watersheds contained water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). Percent agricultural land cover in a watershed and storm magnitude were primary explanatory variables for total suspended solid and total phosphorus concentrations. Total nitrogen, nitrate, and phosphate concentrations were primarily explained by the presence of WRRFs and percent agricultural land cover. Increased dissolved nutrient concentrations in watersheds with WRRFs indicate that WRRFs in the study area are ineffectively removing nitrate and phosphate from effluent. Results suggest that to improve water quality during storm flows, additional management efforts need to be focused on agricultural watersheds and WRRFs. Practitioner points Storm flow water quality in the study area is significantly affected by land cover, WRRF Q, and storm Q. TSS and TP concentrations are best explained by percent of agricultural land cover in a watershed and magnitude of storms. TN , NO 3 ‐N, andPO 4 3 ‐P concentrations are best explained by WRRF Q, followed by the percent agricultural land cover. This study shows that agricultural land cover and WRRF s play a significant role in water quality degradation in SW Ohio.