The potential of wetlands for mitigating adverse effects of agricultural drainage

Technical Report · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:126003

Silverman, G S ^[1]

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1. Bowling Green State Univ., OH (United States)

Agricultural runoff has been clearly identified as a major contributor to the failure of much of the surface water in the United States to meet designated use objectives. Control of agricultural drainage is very problematic. The agriculture industry strongly resists mandated controls, and warns of potential catastrophic consequences in food shortages should production methods be altered. Yet concern grows over the long and short term impact of a variety of contaminants - particularly sediments, nutrients, and pesticides - released to our waters as part of normal agricultural practices. For quite some time, wetlands have been explored for their potential in treating sewage (from both municipal and private systems) and acid mine drainage. Much less work has been done looking at the potential for wetlands to treat agricultural drainage. yet, wetlands may offer tremendous potential for mitigating problems of agricultural runoff while offering farmers desirable (or at least acceptable) uses of marginal land. This paper has two objectives. First, the opportunities for wetlands to be used as agricultural drainage treatment facilities are described. Processes are identified which trap or degrade pollutants, with particular attention given to long-term environmental fate. Second, an experimental wetlands system recently developed in Northwest Ohio is used as an example of system implementation. Emphasis will be given to how the system was developed to optimize pollutant removal within the physical constraints of the site. Preliminary performance data with respect to water quality changes will also be presented.

• Research Organization: National Association of Environmental Professionals, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 126003
• Report Number(s): CONF-9506115--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AGRICULTURE
CONTAMINATION
CROPS
DRAINAGE
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
MITIGATION
POLLUTION CONTROL
RUNOFF
SURFACE WATERS
WETLANDS