ARS | Publication request: HYDROLOGICAL SOURCE MANAGEMENT OF POLLUTANTS AT THE SOIL PROFILE SCALE

Submitted to: Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: September 1, 2002
Publication Date: October 20, 2002
Citation: MCDOWELL, R.W., SHARPLEY, A.N., GBUREK, W.J., KLEINMAN, P.J. HYDROLOGICAL SOURCE MANAGEMENT OF POLLUTANTS AT THE SOIL PROFILE SCALE. CENTRE FOR AGRICULTURE AND BIOSCIENCES INTERNATIONAL. 2002. P. 197-223.

Technical Abstract: The successful control of non-point source pollution must target the availability of pollutants within the soil (source) as well as the potential hydrologic controls on their movement (transport). Depending upon the pollutant, either source or transport management may need to be emphasized. Concerns over the non-point transport of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to ground and surface waters from agricultural land provide an excellent illustration of the importance of source and transport management to prevent nutrients with widely differing behaviors in the soil from becoming pollutants in the environment. With this in mind, this paper examines source and transport factors influencing the loss of pollutants from soil to water at the soil scale. Emphasis is placed on N and P, and in particular P, which is currently receiving considerable scrutiny in research and legislative arenas.