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Phosphorus dynamics and loading in the turbid Minnesota River (USA): controls and recycling potential

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Abstract

Phosphorus (P) dynamics in the agriculturally-dominated Minnesota River (USA) were examined in the lower 40 mile reach in relation to hydrology, loading sources, suspended sediment, and chlorophyll to identify potential biotic and abiotic controls over concentrations of soluble P and the recycling potential of particulate P during transport to the Upper Mississippi River. Within this reach, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) contributions as soluble reactive P (SRP) were greatest during very low discharge and declined with increasing discharge and nonpoint source P loading. Concentrations of SRP declined during low discharge in conjunction with increases in chlorophyll, suggesting biotic transformation to particulate P via phytoplankton uptake. During higher discharge periods, SRP was constant at ~0.115 mg l−1 and coincided with an independently measured equilibrium P concentration (EPC) for suspended sediment in the river, suggesting abiotic control over SRP via phosphate buffering. Particulate P (PP) accounted for 66% of the annual total P load. Redox-sensitive PP, estimated using extraction procedures, represented 43% of the PP. Recycling potential of this load via diffusive sediment P flux under anoxic conditions was conservatively estimated as ~17 mg m−2 d−1 using published regression equations. The reactive nature and high P recycling potential of suspended sediment loads in the Minnesota River has important consequences for eutrophication of the Upper Mississippi River.

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Acknowledgements

Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) of St. Paul, MN, and the US Army Engineer District, St. Paul (USAE St. Paul), are gratefully acknowledged for funding this research. We thank H. Eakin and L. Pommier of the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Eau Galle Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, K. Jensen, S. Schellhaass, and personnel of MCES for sampling, chemical analyses, and database compilation, A. Buesing (USAE St. Paul) and D. Smith (ERDC) for modeling travel time, and anonymous reviewers for helpful comments that improved this manuscript. Additional funding was provided by the Engineer Research and Development Center System-Wide Water Resources Program. Permission to publish this information was granted by the Chief of Engineers.

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  1. Engineer Research and Development Center, Eau Galle Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, W. 500 Eau Galle Dam Rd., Spring Valley, WI, 54767, USA

    William F. James

  2. Metropolitan Council Environmental Services, 390 Robert St. North, St. Paul, MN, 55101-1805, USA

    Catherine E. Larson

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Correspondence to William F. James.

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James, W.F., Larson, C.E. Phosphorus dynamics and loading in the turbid Minnesota River (USA): controls and recycling potential. Biogeochemistry 90, 75–92 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-008-9232-5

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