Regional water quality impacts of intensive row-crop agriculture: A Lake Erie Basin case study

David B. Baker

ABSTRACT:

Intensive row-crop agriculture dominates land use in the northwestern Ohio River basins draining into Lake Erie. Detailed, longterm studies of water quality in these rivers reveal high unit-area P loads entering Lake Erie, even though gross erosion rates are relatively low. Concentrations of nitrate-N and currently used herbicides are also high from May through July, both in surface waters and in public water supplies derived therefrom. To reduce P loading to Lake Erie, water quality management agencies are advocating adoption of conservation tillage. Conservation tillage could increase nitrate and herbicide contamination of area waters. This region's detailed baseline nutrient and herbicide data provide an opportunity to evaluate the effects of conservation tillage on a variety of water quality parameters. To separate weather-related from management-related effects, an ecosystem approach is advocated.

Footnotes

David B. Baker is director of the Water Quality Laboratory, Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio 44883. Data collection was supported by grants from the Great Lakes National Program Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; EPA's Environmental Research Laboratory. Athens, Georgia; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; detergent manufacturers; pesticide manufacturers; the Rockefeller Foundation; and the Joyce Foundation.
Copyright 1985 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.