Indicator of risk of water contamination by phosphorus from Canadian agricultural land

Water Sci Technol. 2006;53(2):303-10. doi: 10.2166/wst.2006.064.

Abstract

The indicator of risk of water contamination by phosphorus (IROWC_P) is designed to estimate where the risk of water P contamination by agriculture is high, and how this risk is changing over time based on the five-year period of data Census frequency. Firstly developed for the province of Quebec (2000), this paper presents an improved version of IROWC_P (intended to be released in 2008), which will be extended to all watersheds and Soil Landscape of Canada (SLC) polygons (scale 1:1, 000, 000) with more than 5% of agriculture. There are three objectives: (i) create a soil phosphorus saturation database for dominant and subdominant soil series of SLC polygons--the soil P saturation values are estimated by the ratio of soil test P to soil P sorption capacity; (ii) calculate an annual P balance considering crop residue P, manure P, and inorganic fertilizer P--agricultural and manure management practices will also be considered; and (iii) develop a transport-hydrology component including P transport estimation by runoff mechanisms (water balance factor, topographic index) and soil erosion, and the area connectivity to water (artificial drainage, soil macropores, and surface water bodies).

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture / methods
  • Algorithms
  • Canada
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Databases, Factual
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Fertilizers
  • Phosphorus / analysis*
  • Risk
  • Soil
  • Soil Pollutants
  • Water Movements
  • Water Pollutants
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
  • Water Pollution

Substances

  • Fertilizers
  • Soil
  • Soil Pollutants
  • Water Pollutants
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Phosphorus