Rapid increases in the swine (Sus scrofa domestica) population in the 1990s and associated potential for nitrate N pollution of surface waters led the state of North Carolina to adopt stringent waste management regulations in 1993. Our objectives were to characterize (i) nitrate N movement from waste application fields (WAFs) in shallow ground water, and (ii) soil, hydrologic, and biological fa...

Sediments can be important in regulating stream water P concentrations, and this has implications for establishing nutrient standards that have not been fully investigated. We evaluated abiotic and biotic processes to better understand the role of sediments in determining stream water dissolved P concentrations. Sediment and stream water samples were collected during low discharge from 105 stre...

Laboratory microcosm experiments were used to assess the effects of environmental parameters on the persistence of the Bacteroides 16S rRNA genes derived from equine fecal samples in stream water to investigate the utility of Bacteroides spp. as fecal indicator organisms. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to measure gene concentrations over time with treatments de...

Variation in the sources of water used by tree species has important ramifications for forest water balances. The fraction of tree transpiration water derived from the unsaturated soil zone and groundwater in a riparian forest was quantified for Populus fremontii, Salix gooddingii, and Prosopis velutina across a gradient of groundwater depth and streamflow regime on the San Pedro River in south...

A detention basin is designed for storm water quantity and quality controls. An in-stream basin is often located on a widened floodplain, while an off-stream basin can be part of open space in a parking lot, park, or sport field. The inflow channel associated with an off-stream basin is allowed to carry its base flow not to exceed the downstream capacity. When the inflow channel is full, the ex...

In two montane watersheds that receive minimal deposition of atmospheric nitrogen, 15–71% of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) was bioavailable in stream water over a 2-year period. Discharge-weighted concentrations of bulk DON were between 102 and 135 lg/l, and the C:N ratio differed substantially between humic and non-humic fractions of DON. Approximately 70% of DON export occurred during snow...

Dunes Creek, a small Lake Michigan coastal stream that drains sandy aquifers and wetlands of Indiana Dunes, has chronically elevated Escherichia coli levels along the bathing beach near its outfall. This study sought to understand the sources of E. coli in Dunes Creek's central branch. A systematic survey of random and fixed sampling points of water and sediment was conducted over 3 years. E. c...

Once dissolved uranium (U) from tailings deposits enters adjacent streams, subsequent downstream transport is affected by the rate at which U is immobilised in sediments, thereby lowering its concentration in stream water. For aqueous phases immobilisation includes adsorption onto sediments and suspended solids, as well as precipitation and co-precipitation as insoluble compounds, all mechanism...

Dissolved phosphorus (DP) can be released from wetlands as a result of flooding or shifts in water column concentrations. Our objectives were to determine the long-term (1460 d) DP retention and release characteristics of an in-stream wetland, and to evaluate how these characteristics respond to flooding, draining, and changes in DP concentrations. The studied in-stream wetland drains an agricu...