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The Impact of Molybdenum-Enriched Irrigation Water on Agricultural Soils Near Brighton, Colorado¹

ABSTRACT

The Mo concentration in water, soils, and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) was monitored for one growing season to determine the impact of using Mo-enriched irrigation water near Brighton, Colorado. The concentration of Mo in irrigation water in this area ranged from 27 to 213 ppb. A significant increase of Mo concentration in alfalfa and available soil Mo was observed at one site irrigated with water containing 213 ppb Mo. The Mo concentration in the alfalfa at this site increased during the growing season from 4.3 to 7.2 ppm. This level is below the 10 ppm level considered toxic to livestock.

Plant Mo was highly correlated (r = 0.94) with resin-extractable Mo in a greenhouse experiment using soils from three of the field sites. Field results were less satisfactory (r = 0.51), partially due to limited indigenous levels of Mo in the soils.

A simulation model was used to assess the potential hazards of irrigating with water containing from 0 to 600 ppb Mo. The results of the simulation indicate that a level of 400 ppb Mo in irrigation water applied to soil with 40% retention of Mo in an available form would result in toxic levels of Mo in plants within 3 years.

The impact of Mo on the Brighton area during one growing season was minimal in relation to uptake of Mo by plants. Further studies are necessary to assess the long term effects of Mo accumulation in soils and irrigated with Mo-enriched waters.

Key Words: trace element • water quality • heavy metal • molybdenosis • micronutrient • toxic effects • available Mo • plant Mo

¹ Published with the approval of the Director, Colorado State University Experiment Station as Scientific Series Paper No. 1948. Supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation RANN Grant GI-34814X.

² Former Graduate Research Assistant, Professor, and Associate Professor, respectively, Dep. of Agronomy, Colo. State Univ., Fort Collins, CO 80521. Present address of the senior author is Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge, TN 37830.

Received for publication March 14, 1974.