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TECHNICAL REPORT
Ground Water Quality

Nitrate and Chloride Loading to Groundwater from an Irrigated North-Central U.S. Sand-Plain Vegetable Field

Central Wisconsin Groundwater Center, 1900 Franklin St., Univ. of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, WI 54481

* Corresponding author (wstites{at}coredcs.com)

Received for publication June 15, 2001. Groundwater pollution and associated effects on drinking water have increased with the expansion of irrigated agriculture in north-central U.S. sand plains. Controlling this pollution requires an ability to measure and predict pollutant loading by specific agricultural systems. We measured NO₃ and Cl loading to groundwater beneath a Wisconsin central sand plain irrigated vegetable field using both a budget method and a new monitoring-based method. By relying on frequent monitoring of shallow groundwater, the new method overcomes some limitations of other methods. Monitoring-based and budget methods agreed well, and indicated that loading to groundwater was 165 kg ha^-1 NO₃–N and 111 kg ha^-1 Cl for sweet corn (Zea mays L.) in 1992, and 228 kg ha^-1 NO₃–N and 366 kg ha^-1 Cl for potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in 1993. Nitrate N loading was 56 to 60% of available N, or 66 to 70% of fertilizer N. Sweet corn NO₃ loading was about typical for this region, but potato NO₃ loading was probably 50% greater than typical because heavy rains provoked extra fertilizer application. Our results imply that typical NO₃–N loading would be 119 kg ha^-1 for sweet corn and 203 kg ha^-1 for potato, even with strict adherence to University Extension fertilizer recommendations. To keep average groundwater NO₃–N within the 10 mg L^-1 U.S. drinking water standard, each irrigated vegetable field would need to be offset by five to eight times as much land supplying NO₃–free groundwater recharge.

Abbreviations: MCL, maximum contaminant level • MLP, multilevel piezometer

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