Journal
HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES
Volume 35, Issue 8, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/hyp.14309
Keywords
mitigation strategy; pastoral agriculture; sediment deposition; surface runoff; suspended sediments; water quality
Categories
Funding
- Balance AgriNutrients Ltd.
- Bay of Plenty Regional Council
- Beef and Lamb NZ
- DairyNZ
- Deer Industry NZ
- Environment Canterbury
- Horizons Regional Council
- Ministry of Primary Industries
- National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
- Waikato Regional Council
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Erosion and sedimentation in surface water in New Zealand have been worsened by land use changes, leading to eutrophication. Detainment bunds constructed in the Lake Rotorua catchment have shown promising results in reducing suspended sediment loads and potentially decreasing phosphorus loading in the lake.
Erosion leading to sedimentation in surface water may disrupt aquatic habitats and deliver sediment-bound nutrients that contribute to eutrophication. Land use changes causing loss of native vegetation have accelerated already naturally high erosion rates in New Zealand and increased sedimentation in streams and lakes. Sediment-bound phosphorus (P) makes up 71-79% of the 17-19 t P y(-1) delivered from anthropogenic sources to Lake Rotorua in New Zealand. Detainment bunds (DBs) were first implemented in the Lake Rotorua catchment in 2010 as a strategy to address P losses from pastoral agriculture. The bunds are 1.5-2 m high earthen stormwater retention structures constructed across the flow path of targeted low-order ephemeral streams with the purpose of temporarily ponding runoff on productive pastures. The current DB design protocol recommends a minimum pond volume of 120 m(3) ha(-1) of contributing catchment with a maximum pond storage capacity of 10 000 m(3). No previous study has investigated the ability of DBs to decrease annual suspended sediment (SS) loads leaving pastoral catchments. Annual SS yields delivered to two DBs with 20 ha and 55 ha catchments were 109 and 28 kg SS ha(-1), respectively, during this 12-month study. The DBs retained 1280 kg (59%) and 789 kg (51%) of annual SS loads delivered from the catchments as a result of the bunds' ability to impede stormflow and facilitate soil infiltration and sediment deposition. The results of this study highlight the ability of DBs to decrease SS loads transported from pastures in surface runoff, even during large storm events, and suggests DBs are able to reduce P loading in Lake Rotorua.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available