ASHS 2024 Conference

Container nurseries produce a high volume of operational water (OW) during irrigation and storm events. OW is irrigation return flow (IRF) and storm runoff that has traveled through crop production areas and could carry sediment and agrichemicals, making nurseries a potential contributor to nonpoint source pollution. OW is collected in retention reservoirs for treatment and reuse or allowed to leave the site. A monitoring program was conducted on five production areas (study catchments) with two different irrigation systems (i.e., overhead and spray stake) in two container nurseries located in the Midwestern USA (Central Lowland physiographic region). Total suspended solid (TSS), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphate (PO4-P) in OW during storm and irrigation events. We found median event mean concentrations (EMCs) during irrigation events for TSS, DIN, and PO4-P were 131 mg∙L-1, 2.9 mg∙ L-1, and 1.2 mg∙ L-1, respectively. During storm events, DIN and PO4-P EMCs were similar to irrigation events; however, TSS EMCs were almost 8 times greater than those of irrigation events. The median daily TSS, DIN and PO4-P load per ha during storm events were 13.3 kg·ha−1·day−1, 82.3 g·ha−1·day−1 and 43.5 g·ha−1·day−1, respectively, which were 20, 3, and 4 times greater than those of irrigation events. The results indicated that the portion contribution of storm and irrigation for producing TSS was 86% and 14%, respectively. The results of this study can facilitate improved irrigation scheduling and help assess potential treatment options.