Phosphorus run-off from urban lawn care is a significant water quality concern in many US suburban communities. Many state and municipal governments in the USA adopt urban fertilizer laws or ordinances that prohibit the use of phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizers. This study assesses the long-term water-quality impacts of two phosphorus-reduction scenarios in a suburban watershed in Central New Jersey. While Scenario I reduces the phosphorus fertilizer application rates by 25%, Scenario II completely eliminates phosphorus fertilizer for urban lawns as required by such laws, rules or ordinances. The long-term water-quality impacts were estimated using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool and then compared to the total maximum daily load (TMDL) water-quality standards using the load duration curve approach. Scenario I will decrease total phosphorus (TP) load to streams by 15.34%. Scenario II achieves greater reduction in TP load to streams than Scenario I, but results in excessive nitrogen run-off and violation of the TMDL standard for total nitrogen. While many regulatory measures focus on reducing phosphorus run-off by prohibiting the use of phosphorus in urban lawn fertilizer, they should be carefully implemented to balance the nutrient needs to maintain healthy lawns and avoid such unintended consequences.
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Research Article|
May 13 2014
Assessing long-term water quality impacts of reducing phosphorus fertilizer in a US suburban watershed Available to Purchase
Zeyuan Qiu;
Zeyuan Qiu
*
aDepartment of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, USA; Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Tony Prato;
Tony Prato
aDepartment of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, USA; Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
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Hongmei Wang
Hongmei Wang
bCollege of Economics and Management, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
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Water Policy (2014) 16 (5): 917–929.
Article history
Received:
October 12 2013
Accepted:
February 19 2014
Citation
Zeyuan Qiu, Tony Prato, Hongmei Wang; Assessing long-term water quality impacts of reducing phosphorus fertilizer in a US suburban watershed. Water Policy 1 October 2014; 16 (5): 917–929. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2014.163
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