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Monitoring Nitrogen Loading and Retention in an Urban Stormwater Detention Pond
Author(s) -
Rosenzweig Bernice R.,
Smith James A.,
Baeck Mary Lynn,
Jaffé Peter R.
Publication year - 2011
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/jeq2010.0300
Subject(s) - stormwater , detention basin , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , effluent , water quality , urban stream , nitrification , nitrate , environmental engineering , retention basin , surface runoff , nitrogen , ecology , geotechnical engineering , engineering , biology , physics , quantum mechanics
Stormwater detention ponds have become ubiquitous in urbanized areas and have been suggested as potential hotspots of N transformation within urban watersheds. As a result, there is a great deal of interest in their use as structural best management practices to reduce the excessive N export from these watersheds. We conducted continuous monitoring of the influent and effluent N loads of a stormwater detention pond located on the Princeton University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. Our monitoring was conducted during four 21‐d periods representing the four seasons of the northeastern United States. Water quality samples were collected and analyzed for nitrate (NO 3 − ) during all four monitoring periods. During two of these periods, loads of ammonium (NH 4 + ), dissolved organic N, and particulate N (PN) were measured. Our results show that NO 3 − dominated the influent N load, particularly in dry weather inflows to the detention pond. However, PN, which is often neglected in stormwater quality monitoring, made up as much as 30% of the total load and an even greater fraction during storm events. The results of our monitoring suggest that seasonal variation may play an important role in N retention within the detention pond. Although retention of NO 3 − , the most dominant fraction of N in the influent stormwater, was observed during the summer sampling period, no significant NO 3 − retention was observed during the spring or the two cold‐weather sampling periods.