Nitrate contamination from dairy lagoons constructed in coarse alluvial deposits

In an effort to reduce surface inflows of nutrients to Deer Creek Reservoir in north central Utah, several dairies in Heber Valley constructed unlined lagoons to store wastes for later application onto fields as fertilizer. Previous research indicated that dairy lagoons sealed with use and were not...

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Published inJournal of environmental quality Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 973 - 976
Main Authors Korom, S.F. (Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND.), Jeppson, R.W
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Madison American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America 01.09.1994
American Society of Agronomy
Subjects
AGUAS SUBTERRANEAS
Alluvial deposits
ALLUVION
ALMACENAMIENTO SUBTERRANEO
ALUVION
AZOTE
CONTAMINANTES
DECHET
DESECHOS
EAU SOUTERRAINE
Freshwater
INDUSTRIA LECHERA
INDUSTRIE LAITIERE
Lagoons
NITRATE
NITRATOS
NITROGENO
POLLUANT
POLLUTION DE L'EAU
POLUCION DEL AGUA
STOCKAGE SOUTERRAIN
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Summary:In an effort to reduce surface inflows of nutrients to Deer Creek Reservoir in north central Utah, several dairies in Heber Valley constructed unlined lagoons to store wastes for later application onto fields as fertilizer. Previous research indicated that dairy lagoons sealed with use and were not significant sources of contamination; however, the soils in Heber Valley are coarser than in the literature. Therefore, two of Heber Valley's dairy lagoons were studied as sources of NO3(-)-N to the groundwater system. One lagoon was constructed on Holmes subsoils (loamy-skeletal, mixed, frigid Typin Argixerolls); its seepage rate was estimated at 13 to 91 mm/d, which is as high or higher than any of the rates reported in the literature. The other lagoon was constructed on Deer Creek subsoils (fine, montmorillonitic, frigid Typic Palexerolls). Leachate quality from both lagoons typically exceeded the drinking water standard of 10 mg NO3(-)-N/L and sometimes exceeded 100 mg NO3(-)-N/L. The likely reason for the high NO3(-)-N concentrations was that the coarse soils in Heber Valley sometimes permitted the aerobic conditions necessary for nitrification of immobile NH4+ to mobile NO3(-). We concluded that the unlined dairy lagoons were significant sources of N (as NO3-) contamination to the Heber Valley aquifer
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ISSN:0047-2425
1537-2537
DOI:10.2134/jeq1994.00472425002300050018x