GUIDELINES / 1.0 Water Quality
- 1.0 Introduction
- 1.1 Buffers and Land Management
- 1.2 Karst Landscapes
- 1.3 Frozen Soils
- 1.4 Target Buffers In Watersheds
- 1.5 Arrangement Near Sources
- 1.6 Buffer Site Design
- 1.7 Variable Buffer Width
- 1.8 Effective Buffer Area Ratio
- 1.9 Slope and Soil Type Adjustments
- 1.10 Buffers for Sediment
- 1.11 Buffers for Pathogens
- 1.12 Buffers for Nitrogen
- 1.13 Buffers for Phosphorus
- 1.14 Buffers for Pesticides
- 1.15 Buffers for Shallow Groundwater
- 1.16 Urban Runoff and Roadsides
- 1.17 Buffers and Grazing
- 1.18 Allowances for Bank Erosion
- 1.19 Buffer Width Design Tool for Surface Runoff
- 1.20 Vegetation for Removing Pollutants from Runoff
- 1.21 Stiff-stemmed Grass Barriers
- 1.22 Vegetation for Bank Erosion Control
- 1.23 In-Stream Pollutant Removal
- 1.24 Species Selection
- 1.25 Sediment Removal
- 1.26 Harvesting for Nutrient Removal
- 1.27 Plant Succession
- 1.28 Vegetation and Traffic
1.13 Buffers for Phosphorus
Phosphorus (P) in runoff occurs either as particulate phosphorus or as dissolved phosphorus. Particulate phosphorus is sediment-bound and can be moderately-well trapped by deposition in buffers. Dissolved phosphorus must infiltrate with runoff water and be trapped in the soil.
Unlike N which can be released to the atmosphere through denitrification, P will accumulate in the buffer. Once a buffer is saturated with P, it can turn into a source for P. Other best management practices will be necessary to manage phosphorus.
Key Design Considerations
- Avoid trapping P in riparian buffers which can be remobilized by flood waters.
- See 1.19 for buffer width recommendations.
- Buffers consisting of unfertilized crops or hayfields can trap and utilize P. Removing this vegetation through harvest may help export P, as well as N, out of the watershed (see 1.26). Select plants with high nutrient demand.