NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
November 16, 2000
A new report from North Dakota State University can guide land managers and policy makers who want to improve water quality in the region.
NDSU Extension Report 62, "Diffuse Sources of Nitrogen Related to Water Quality Protection in the Northern Great Plains," provides a comprehensive view of nitrogen in the environment. "Water resource protection is a complicated issue that requires a scientific approach, says Bruce Seelig, water quality specialist with the NDSU Extension Service and author of the report. "Objective study and analyses will ensure that management decisions are on track and will have the desired effect on the water resources we wish to protect. We know from experience that management practices are more likely to be successful if the water quality problem is well defined and a systematic approach is used."
The report discusses the processes and factors that affect the fate of nitrogen; methods to assess for potential problem areas; and management practices that help reduce the potential for nitrogen contamination.
Seelig notes that nitrogen contamination of both surface and groundwater occurs in North Dakota. Approximately 10 percent of drinking water wells in North Dakota have nitrate concentrations that exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration health standard of 10 parts per million. Nutrient loading threatens to cause continued water quality degradation in approximately 80 percent of the streams and lakes in North Dakota.
"There are always many questions regarding water resource contamination and protection. Who's responsible? What are the measured impacts? Where is the source? When should corrective action be taken? Why should anyone be concerned?" Seelig says. "This report provides background for addressing those questions."
He notes that management practices such as conservation tillage, riparian buffers, reduced nitrogen fertilizer applications, livestock waste lagoons, storm water abatement, or wellhead protection are all touted as ways to reduce nitrogen's impact on water quality. "But implementing those practices may or may not have significant impacts on water quality. Review of studies that address the issue of nitrogen impacts on water resources show that both natural and manmade factors must be considered and appropriate management practices implemented."
Some of these factors, such as the practice of summer fallow, are important with respect to surface water and groundwater. Other factors, such as soil texture, are considered only when assessing groundwater. Land slope is considered only for surface water assessment.
Combining knowledge of nitrogen contamination factors with geographic information system (GIS) computer software can identify potential problem areas, Seelig says. Management recommendations can be tailored to take into consideration those factors that are most likely to contribute to the problem. In this way, management practices can be applied to areas where they will have the greatest impact.
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Source: Bruce Seelig, (701) 231-8690
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629