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Partnership to Improve Nutrient Efficiency
Citation:
Pearlstein, S., J. Compton, AND A. Henning. Partnership to Improve Nutrient Efficiency. U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC, EPA/600/F-16/290, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
Groundwater nitrate contamination affects thousands of households in the Southern Willamette Valley Ground-water Management Area (GWMA). To reduce non-point source loading of nitrogen to groundwater and surface waters, successful approaches are needed within affected communities to integrate science, outreach and management efforts. EPA scientists are working with EPA Region 10 staff and a large number of regional partners to assess current nutrient management practices relating to groundwater nitrate leaching in this area. The project seeks to improve surface and groundwater quality in the southern Willamette Valley GWMA by providing GWMA-wide tools and information to reduce leaching of nitrate from farm fields. This fact sheet will inform current and future stakeholders of the work of the PINE project.
Description:
PINE began in 2013 by working with OSU Extension and producers to locate and test existing 1990s lysimeters in Benton, Linn and Lane counties. The team identified additional producers to install Prenart lysimeters at a total of 15 sites. Producers allow for soil and water sampling on their fields and share information about their land management practices. In turn, PINE shares information about leaching and soils data back to producers. Sampling began in 2014 and will continue through 2017. The goals are to 1) Assess the effectiveness of current fertilizer management practices in the GWMA for reducing nitrate contamination of ground-water, and 2) Test models that can support nutrient and ecosystem services trading to improve surface and groundwater quality. Ultimately we will calculate monthly nitrogen budgets for each field to highlight connections be-tween leaching and management.