Impacts of a nutrient trading plan on stream water quality in Sugar Creek,Ohio |
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Authors: | Samuel A Miller Steve W Lyon Richard H Moore |
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Institution: | 1. School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio, USA;2. School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio, USA
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing |
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Abstract: | In the early 2000s, a phosphorus nutrient trading plan (NTP) requiring best management practices (BMPs) to be installed as pollution abatement strategies to offset phosphorus waste from the Alpine Cheese Company was implemented in four subwatersheds of Sugar Creek in northeast Ohio. To assess the impacts of the Alpine NTP, 49 sites were sampled approximately biweekly from 2010 to 2018 for phosphate, total phosphorus, nitrate, ammonia, and total nitrogen. In addition, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency conducted stream health surveys at 21 sites before and after the BMPs were implemented. This study evaluated the potential impact of 68 BMPs implemented under the NTP on the observed changes in nutrient concentrations and stream health indicators. Most nutrient concentrations observed during high discharge conditions showed significant declines from 2010 to 2018 for all subwatersheds, which was most likely due to BMPs that reduced erosion and surface runoff. However, there were fewer significant declines and some significant increases in nutrient levels during low discharge conditions, suggesting a possible contribution from legacy nutrient sources. Most sites reported increases in stream health indicators, but many streams are still below recommended levels. Collectively, the installation of BMPs and decreases in nutrient concentrations observed during high discharge conditions can be attributed to the NTP and likely contributed to improved stream health. |
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Keywords: | agriculture environmental impacts Biotic Integrity nonpoint source pollution nutrients best management practices (BMP-s) water policy watershed management Water Quality Trading |
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