Title: Sediment phosphorus release at a small impoundment on the Illinois River, Arkansas and Oklahoma, USA
Abstract: The Illinois River in northeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas has been the focal point of environmental, political and legal debate over elevated P concentrations and loads transported across the Arkansas and Oklahoma border. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board has adopted numeric total P criteria (0.037 mg P L−1) in Oklahoma's Scenic Rivers, including the Illinois River. The US Geological Survey has reported flow-weighted total P concentrations approximately an order of magnitude greater than the newly adopted criterion. Furthermore, elevated dissolved P concentrations have been traced over 45 river kilometers upstream to municipal wastewater discharges in the headwaters of the Illinois River. The point of regulation regarding the total P criteria will be where the Illinois River flows from Arkansas into Oklahoma; however, a small impoundment exists at the Arkansas and Oklahoma border and the states respectively monitor water quality upstream and downstream from this impoundment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate P release from sediments accumulated in this small impoundment. Sediment P release measured in laboratory incubations was as much as 4 mg P m−2 day−1 under aerobic conditions and approximately 15 mg P m−2 day−1 under anaerobic conditions. Sediment equilibrium P concentrations (EPC0) in laboratory equilibration studies were 0.05–0.20 mg P L−1, which is greater than the total P criteria for this river in Oklahoma. Thus, it is conceivable that P released from bottom sediments in this small impoundment may, in fact, increase dissolved P concentrations in the Illinois River. The effect of internal P cycling at Lake Frances on P concentration in the Illinois River downstream might be greatest in the near future, because municipal discharges have recently reduced effluent P concentrations.
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-09-08
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 40
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