Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Biomass production in the Lower Mississippi River Basin: Mitigating associated nutrient and sediment discharge to the Gulf of Mexico

Journal Article · · Science of the Total Environment
 [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
  2. U.S. Army Engineer R&D Center, Vicksburg, MS (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Here, a watershed model was developed using the Soil andWater Assessment Tool (SWAT) that simulates nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loadings in the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB). The LMRB SWAT model was calibrated and validated using 21 years of observed flow, sediment, and water-quality data. The baseline model results indicate that agricultural lands within the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB) are the dominant sources of nitrogen and phosphorus discharging into the Gulf of Mexico. The model was further used to evaluate the impact of biomass production, in the presence of riparian buffers in the LMRB, on suspended-sediment and nutrient loading discharge from the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. The interplay among land use, riparian buffers, crop type, land slope, water quality, and hydrology were anlyzed at various scales. Implementing a riparian buffer in the dominant agricultural region within the LMRB could reduce suspended sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus loadings at the regional scale by up to 65%, 38%, and 39%, respectively. Implementation of this land management practice can reduce the suspended-sediment content and improve the water quality of the discharge from the LMRB into the Gulf of Mexico and support the potential production of bioenergy and bio-products within the Mississippi River Basin.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1467637
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1548442
Journal Information:
Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 635, Issue C; ISSN 0048-9697
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 12 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (30)

Trends in the nutrient enrichment of U.S. rivers during the late 20th century and their relation to changes in probable stream trophic conditions journal January 2006
Differences in Phosphorus and Nitrogen Delivery to The Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River Basin journal February 2008
Representation of agricultural conservation practices with SWAT journal July 2008
Large area Hydrologic Modeling and Assessment part i: Model Development journal February 1998
SWAT: Model Use, Calibration, and Validation journal January 2012
Mobilization of sediment phosphorus by submersed freshwater macrophytes journal June 1980
Assessing Regional Hydrology and Water Quality Implications of Large-Scale Biofuel Feedstock Production in the Upper Mississippi River Basin journal August 2012
Hydrologic and water quality impacts of biofuel feedstock production in the Ohio River Basin journal July 2017
A Hydrologic/Water Quality Model Applicati1 journal October 2007
The Soil and Water Assessment Tool: Historical Development, Applications, and Future Research Directions journal January 2007
Hydrologic Evaluation of the soil and Water Assessment tool for a Large Tile-Drained Watershed in iowa journal January 2006
Simulating and evaluating best management practices for integrated landscape management scenarios in biofuel feedstock production: Evaluating Best Management Practices for Biofuel Feedstock Production journal September 2015
Land management strategies for improving water quality in biomass production under changing climate journal March 2017
Nitrate Removal in Stream Riparian Zones journal January 1996
Hierarchical Approaches to the Study of Water Quality in Rivers journal March 1995
Landscape approaches to the analysis of aquatic ecosystems journal February 1997
Modeling spatial and dynamic variation in growth, yield, and yield stability of the bioenergy crops Miscanthus × giganteus and Panicum virgatum across the conterminous United States journal December 2011
Model Evaluation Guidelines for Systematic Quantification of Accuracy in Watershed Simulations journal January 2007
River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I — A discussion of principles journal April 1970
Riparian vegetated buffer strips in water-quality restoration and stream management journal April 1993
Incorporating Uncertainty Into the Ranking of SPARROW Model Nutrient Yields From Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin Watersheds journal April 2009
Modeling the effects of riparian buffer zone and contour strips on stream water quality journal August 2009
Ground Water Nitrate Reduction in Giant cane and Forest Riparian Buffer Zones journal April 2003
Buffer Zone versus Whole Catchment Approaches to Studying Land Use Impact on River Water Quality journal October 2001
The updated billion-ton resource assessment journal November 2014
Development of a simplistic vegetative filter strip model for sediment and nutrient retention at the field scale journal May 2009
Sensitivity Analysis, Calibration, and Validations for a Multisite and Multivariable swat Model journal October 2005
Nutrient delivery from the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico and effects of cropland conservation journal January 2014
Sediment Routing for Agricultural Watersheds journal October 1975
Effectiveness of Vegetated Buffer Strips in Controlling Pollution from Feedlot Runoff journal July 1980

Cited By (2)

Assessing Anthropogenic Impacts on Chemical and Biochemical Oxygen Demand in Different Spatial Scales with Bayesian Networks journal January 2020
Recognizing economic value in multifunctional buffers in the lower Mississippi river basin: The value proposition of multi-functional riparian buffers journal August 2018

Figures / Tables (12)

Figure 1(p. 7)figure Figure 1
Figure 2(p. 9)figure Figure 2
Table 1(p. 11)table Table 1
Figure 3(p. 15)figure Figure 3
Table 2(p. 16)table Table 2
Figure 4(p. 17)figure Figure 4
Table 3(p. 17)table Table 3
Figure 5(p. 19)figure Figure 5
Figure 6.(p. 21)figure Figure 6.
Figure 7.(p. 22)figure Figure 7.
Figure 8.(p. 24)figure Figure 8.
Figure 9.(p. 27)figure Figure 9.

Similar Records

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Riparian buffer
SWAT
Hydrologic modeling
Water quality
Nutrient loading
Mississippi River Basin