AbstractNutrient transport in surface runoff from snow was measured from fertilized and unfertilized cropped and summerfallowed Wood Mountain loam fields in semiarid southwest Saskatchewan. The amount of nitrogen lost from unfertilized fields during spring runoff exceeded the limits purported to result in algal growth; however, the loss was agronomically insignificant.It was concluded that since the N and P concentrations in runoff from unfertilized fertile agricultural soils exceed Saskatchewan Water Quality criteria, these guidelines may be regarded as unattainable under our present system of cereal cropping in western Canada.