(102) Monitoring Nutrient Mitigation at a Container Nursery Wetland: A 3-Year Study

Abstract

Container-grown plants require large amounts of water and nutrients during their production cycle. This results in substantial runoff that is contaminated with nitrogen and phosphorus. At our study site, nutrients were delivered through incorporation in the potting media as timed-release prills and through liquid feeding by injection into irrigation water. Mitigation of nutrients in runoff water was dealt with proactively by the container nursery with construction of 3.77 ha of planted wetlands to receive runoff from a 48.6-ha drainage basin and excess water diverted from adjacent watersheds. Water flowed though drains between wetland cells and eventually into stilling ponds before it was allowed to exit the property. Water flow through the wetlands ranged from 1.1 to 3.1 million liters per day over the period. Three years of monitoring data indicate some seasonal differences in nitrogen removal efficiencies. Nitrogen removal between March and November averaged ≥95% while removal during winter (December through February) averaged ≥72%. Nitrogen (as nitrate) varied from 4.28 ppm to ≤0.01 ppm in wetland discharge, well below drinking water quality standards, but occasionally above levels that may cause downstream eutrophication. Orthophosphate phosphorus removal was highly variable with greatest removal occurring during late spring, late fall, and winter. There was a significant net export of phosphorus during some summer months for years 2 and 3. Phosphorus levels in wetland discharge ranged between 0.84 and 2.75 ppm. While there is currently no legal water quality standard for phosphorus, these levels were above the generally accepted level for preventing downstream eutrophication.