Nutrient retention in tile-fed and non-tile reconstructed oxbows in north central Iowa

Nutrient export from the agricultural Midwest threatens the Gulf of Mexico and new conservation practices are needed to reduce the loss of nutrient from subsurface tile drainage systems. Oxbows are natural waterbodies formed when a river cuts off a meander loop and water quality benefits of reconstructed oxbows are being increasingly recognized. In this study, we monitored four reconstructed oxbow sites (two tile-fed, two non-tile) over a 2-year period in north-central Iowa and assessed their capacity for NO₃-N and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) reductions. Water flow and quality monitoring of tiles, shallow groundwater, oxbow and receiving streams documented that the oxbows were dominated by tile drainage inputs. NO₃-N concentrations were highest in the drainage tiles flowing into the tile-fed oxbows (mean 8–10 mg/L) and much lower in floodplain groundwater (<1–2 mg/L). Annual NO₃-N loads into the tile-fed oxbows were substantially larger than input loads into the non-tiled oxbows. For the two tile-fed oxbows, the 2-year NO₃-N retention efficiencies were very similar (0.76–0.77) and on a monthly basis, greater retention efficiencies were measured in summer and fall. DRP concentrations and loads into the tile-fed oxbows were too low to allow for meaningful estimates of retention. Reconstructing oxbows to receive tile drainage water should be considered a sustainable conservation practice for tile drainage treatment in agricultural areas.