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Runoff, Solids, and Contaminant Losses into Surface Tile Inlets Draining Lacustrine Depressions
Author(s) -
Ginting D.,
Moncrief J. F.,
Gupta S. C.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2000.00472425002900020024x
Subject(s) - tile drainage , snowmelt , surface runoff , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , surface water , water quality , pollutant , total suspended solids , inlet , environmental engineering , chemistry , chemical oxygen demand , soil water , geology , soil science , ecology , wastewater , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , geomorphology , biology
Surface tile inlets connected to subsurface tile lines provide a direct pathway for pollutants to enter water bodies. This study was conducted to evaluate the quantity and quality of surface runoff entering surface tile inlets draining natural depressions of lacustrine landscapes. Surface runoff, solids, and nutrient losses via surface tile‐inlets in two lacustrine watersheds in the southern Minnesota River Basin were investigated from 1995 to 1998. Tillage and crop rotations were: (i) fall NH 3 ‐N injection after soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] or navy bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris vat. vulgaris ) harvest and (ii) fall chisel plowing after corn ( Zea mays subsp, mays ) harvest, followed by spring field cultivation, planting, harrowing, and row cultivation. Maximum annual runoff loss via surface inlets was less than 5% of annual precipitation. Flow‐weighted total P (TP) concentration ranged from 0.2 to 2.9 mg L −1 in snowmelt and 0.7 to 6.5 mg L −1 in rainfall runoff. Nitrate N concentrations were less than 10 mg L −1 . Three‐year maximum cumulative pollutant loads were: 138 kg ha −1 total solids (TS), 20 kg ha −1 chemical oxygen demand (COD), 363 g ha −1 TP, 205 g ha −1 dissolved molybdate reactive P (DMRP), 1342 g ha −1 total dissolved inorganic N (TDIN), and 1126 g ha −1 nitrate N. Most of the dissolved pollutants were associated with snowmelt runoff and most of the particulate pollutants were associated with major storms. Losses of particulate pollutants via surface tile inlets are smaller than expected doe to the dynamics of ponding in natural landscape depressions.