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AGRICULTURE RUNOFF AND RESERVOIR DRAWDOWN EFFECTS ON A 2760-HECTARE RESERVOIR
Citation:
Shaw, B. AND C. Powers. AGRICULTURE RUNOFF AND RESERVOIR DRAWDOWN EFFECTS ON A 2760-HECTARE RESERVOIR. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/3-82/003 (NTIS PB82186529), 1982.
Description:
The 2760-hectare Big Eau Pleine Reservoir in Marathon County, Wisconsin has experienced frequent winter fish kills and summer algae blooms since its construction in 1937. A study of the reservoir and its 945 square kilometer watershed was conducted from 1974 to 1979 in an attempt to quantify the sources of water quality problems to recommend management practices to reduce these problems. Land use and nutrient loading studies in the watershed identified agricultural runoff, especially animal waste, as the major source of nutrient loading. Total phosphorus loss from the watershed averaged 0.59 kg/ha/yr for the 4-year period; approximately 60 percent occurred during the spring snowmelt and runoff season. Hydrologic and soil erosion modeling indicated that spring snowmelt was the period of greatest runoff and soil erosion and that much of the soil erosion and runoff originates on the lower slopes and alluvial soils.