Manure Phosphorus and Surface Water Protection III: Transport Factors

Manure Phosphorus (P) and Surface Water Protection III:  Transport Factors

Overview:

The importance of agricultural P management in protecting water quality was addressed in Lesson I of this series [Manure Phosphorus (P) and Surface Water Protection 1:  Basic Concepts of Soil and Water P].  Factors contributing to P loss from land to surface waters include source factors and transport factors (Table 1).  As discussed in Lesson I, an interaction of source and transport factors is needed to have runoff P loss.  If either source or transport factors contributes minimally to the risk of P delivery to surface waters, then the risk for P delivery is not likely to be great, even if the other set of factors creates a much greater risk potential.  The 'critical source area' concept, introduced in Lesson II, tells us the risk is greatest when both the source and transport factors are high. 

The current lesson addresses transport factors that may contribute to P delivery to surface waters, the most important being erosion, runoff, subsurface flow, drainage and distance to surface water (Fig. 1).  In some instances, wind erosion may also play an important role.  The lesson also discusses the effects of management practices on P transport and water-related transport processes.

Objectives:

Upon completing this lesson, a student should be able to:

1. Identify transport factors and analyze their importance for P delivery to surface waters.
2. Describe the interaction of erosion with soil test P and total soil P relative to P in runoff and erosion.
3. Name and discuss the role of management practices in reducing the effect of transport factors contributing to P loss from a field.