Wednesday, November 7, 2007 - 2:05 PM
269-4
Potential for Nitrogen Movement in Runoff from Turfgrass Systems.
Greg Bell, 360 Agricultural Hall, Oklahoma State University, Dept. of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Stillwater, OK 74078-6027
Surface runoff from turf occurs when the precipitation rate exceeds the surface infiltration rate of a turf/soil system and free water accumulates on the system surface. Once surface runoff begins, flow is channeled through natural and artificial drainage into surface water features such as lakes, ponds, and streams. A review of the literature may lead us to believe that fertilizer and pesticide runoff from turf is not a serious environmental problem. In fact, the USEPA and the USDA-NRCS recommend grasses for use as vegetative buffer strips to reduce runoff from crop fields and other sites. However, with the application of nutrients and pesticides to turf to maintain color and density at commercially or socially acceptable levels, there is a danger that some portion of a recent nutrient or pesticide application may combine with surface water runoff and flow into adjacent water features. Nitrate in surface water at concentrations as low as 1 mg L-1 may lead to eutrophication. It is our responsibility as scientists, educators, and environmental stewards to gather and disseminate information that leads to the reduction, or possibly the elimination, of the potential for nitrogen runoff from turf.