Citation:

Hu, Y., A. Sampat, Gerardo J. Ruiz-Mercado, AND V. Zavala. Logistics Network Management of Livestock Waste for Spatiotemporal Control of Nutrient Pollution in Water Bodies. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 7(22):18359-18374, (2019). https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03920

Impact/Purpose:

Anthropogenic nutrient pollution, primarily consisting of nitrogen and phosphorus, is one of the most widespread water quality problems facing the U.S., which originates from excess nutrient runoff from agricultural land, improperly managed farming operations, and point sources such as wastewater treatment plants. Some nutrient pollution impacts include harmful algal blooms (HABs), hypoxia, and eutrophication. In this work, we analyze how logistics networks can be used to enable spatiotemporal control of in-excess nutrient flows and associated HABs. To do so, we propose a computational framework that incorporates a logistics network model that seeks to identify optimal locations for waste storage and processing technologies as well as optimal strategies for mobilization of waste and derived products in a given region. In addition, the framework incorporates a medium-fidelity nutrient transport model which captures dynamics of the transport process from agriculture lands to water bodies. Moreover, the framework incorporates an algae bloom prediction model that tracks the nutrient concentration of a water body over time and relates this to the algae bloom level. The framework integrates these models to design a four-dimensional model for organic waste management that simultaneously mitigates investment, transportation, operational, and environmental costs. We present a series of case studies in the Upper Yahara watershed in the State of Wisconsin to illustrate the practicability of the framework. We have found that the logistics network management for waste and nutrients can reduce the incidence rates of HABs effectively but reducing to a non-harmful level may require long-term efforts such as installing advanced manure treatment technologies and storage systems. This contribution aims to offer more realistic nutrient pollution prevention and control costs and employ this framework for the design and evaluation of feasible and efficient nutrient management incentives and policies. This contribution would be of relevant interest for Regions, states, communities, and the public looking for feasible solutions to address quality of life challenges, ecological impairments, and economic impacts caused by inefficient management of organic waste, nutrient pollution, and HABs.

Description:

Nutrient pollution is a widespread water quality problem, which originates from excess nutrient runoff from agricultural land, improperly managed farming operations, and point sources such as wastewater treatment plants. Some nutrient pollution impacts include harmful algal blooms (HABs), hypoxia, and eutrophication. HABs are major environmental events that cause severe health threats and economic losses (e.g., tourism, real estate, commercial fishing). A dimension of the nutrient pollution problem that has not received much attention is that this interacts with organic waste management practices. As a result, it is important to connect the time and location of point and nonpoint nutrient source releases, nutrient soil content, spatial layout, and hydrology of agricultural lands with the transport of nutrients to water bodies and their impacts on aquatic ecosystems. In this work, we show how nutrient concentration in water bodies and other spatiotemporal factors are related to HAB development and how logistics management of livestock waste can be used to conduct space–time management of nutrient pollution. A case study for the Upper Yahara Watershed in the State of Wisconsin (U.S.) is employed to demonstrate the practicability of the modeling framework. Our framework reveals that logistics network management for waste and nutrients can reduce the incidence rates of HABs, but reducing it to nonharmful levels would require long-term efforts such as installing nutrient recovery technologies, coordinating manure storage and application, and deploying management incentive plans.

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