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Development of a national-scale framework to characterise transfers of N, P and Escherichia coli from land to water

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-03, 21:40 authored by M.S. Srinivasan, Richard MuirheadRichard Muirhead, Shailesh Singh, Ross MonaghanRoss Monaghan, Roland Stenger, Murray Close, Andrew Manderson, John Drewy, Chris SmithChris Smith, Diana SelbieDiana Selbie, Roger Hodson
A hydrological framework encompassing nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and microbial (E. coli) transfer from land to water was developed to provide a consistent and rapid approach for assessing the potential impacts of land activity on water quality in New Zealand. A flow partition approach was used to route precipitation via surface and subsurface pathways from land to water. The framework included a typology-based inventory that estimates annual yields of transportable N and P from land, a regional-scale spatial layer that attenuates N in groundwater, and literature-based estimates of E. coli concentrations in surface runoff and artificial drainage. Application of the framework in four catchments highlighted the importance of local catchment knowledge of dominant hydrological processes that was needed to ensure flow partitions derived were a realistic representation of transport processes. While the approach was promising, additional refinements are needed to improve process representation (e.g. effects of groundwater lags) and ensure input data (e.g. soil attributes) have appropriate resolution to describe hydrological pathways. We contend that such a framework would provide a consistent and relatively rapid approach for identifying contaminant transfer pathways from land to water that can inform assessments of the potential consequences of land use change and intensification.

History

Rights statement

© 2020 Our Land & Water National Science Challenge

Language

  • English

Does this contain Māori information or data?

  • No

Publisher

Taylor & Francis Group

Journal title

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

ISSN

0028-8233

Citation

Srinivasan, M. S., Muirhead, R. W., Singh, S. K., Monaghan, R. M., Stenger, R., Close, M. E., … Hodson, R. (2020). Development of a national-scale framework to characterise transfers of N, P and Escherichia coli from land to water. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 64(3), 286-313. doi:10.1080/00288233.2020.1713822

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