Contribution of Industrial, Municipal, Agricultural and Groundwater Sources to Nutrient Export, Athabasca, Wapiti and Smoky Rivers, 1980-1993

📖 The Scoop

The aim of this report is to assess the sources of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Athabasca and Wapiti/Smoky rivers and evaluate the need to consider groundwater contributions when undertaking simulation modelling of chemical parameters of the Athabasca River during winter. To address the first objective, longitudinal trends in nitrogen and phosphorus were examined for each river system in relation to point source inputs and the contributions of anthropogenic point sources and agricultural activity in the rivers' nutrient loads were quantified. The importance of groundwater during winter was assessed by examining hydrologic mass balances and changes in dominant ion proportions. Results are presented of analyses of long-term values of nutrients from ten sites on the Athabasca and three sites on the Wapiti/Smoky rivers.

Genre: Nature / Natural Resources (fancy, right?)