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Preliminary Evidence of Sediment and Phosphorus Dynamics Behind Newly Installed Low-Grade Weirs in Agricultural Drainage Ditches

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Abstract

Low-grade weirs are innovative management strategies that control surface drainage, slow water velocities, and encourage sedimentation in agricultural drainage ditches. There is little information on how low-grade weirs perform in terms of short-term (0–12 months) sediment retention and associated phosphorus (P) dynamics. This study documents initial results of sediment and P dynamics of low-grade weirs in a drainage system that was built in a two-stage ditch design. Average sediment deposition did not differ significantly among sites (χ 2 = 2.42; P = 0.49); however, average water depths behind weir sites were significantly greater (28 ± 10 cm) than the comparison inflow site (6 ± 8 cm; χ 2 = 7.67; P = 0.05). Total P concentrations were not significantly different through time, or between sites, but there was a general trend of progressively higher total P retention moving downstream. Bioavailability ratios of P (i.e., the ratio of potentially bioavailable to non-bioavailable P fractions) were similar between all sites through time (χ 2 = 2.09; P = 0.55). The only variables correlated significantly with time were found at the inflow site, where water depth significantly decreased with corresponding increases in sediment/water column pH and bioavailability ratios. From best management practice installation to 12 months after construction, there was a lack of significant correlations with any measured variables behind weirs. However, the lack of correlation between variables suggests increasing the hydroperiod, reducing the ephemeral nature of the drainage ditch system, and prolonging inundation, improves conditions for P retention.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the funding from the USDA-AFRI Seed Grant 2009-65107-05832 to Robert Kröger, as well as the MDEQ 319 fund for Harris and Porters Bayou. Installation of weirs at three locations within the ditch was funded through the Environmental Protection Agency’s, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Clean Water Act Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program. Additional funding came from MRBI. The authors are also grateful to Melinda Josey for hel** in the phosphorus analyses and the Mississippi Agricultural Forestry and Experiment Station and the Forest and Wildlife Research Center for the support.

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  1. Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA

    E. L. Usborne, R. Kröger, S. C. Pierce, J. Brandt & D. Goetz

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  1. E. L. Usborne
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Correspondence to R. Kröger.

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Usborne, E.L., Kröger, R., Pierce, S.C. et al. Preliminary Evidence of Sediment and Phosphorus Dynamics Behind Newly Installed Low-Grade Weirs in Agricultural Drainage Ditches. Water Air Soil Pollut 224, 1520 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1520-6

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