Research Areas > Nutrients > Identification of Nutrient Sources
Research Area: Identification of Nutrient Sources
Nutrients can enter streams, estuaries, and coastal waters from a variety of sources. These sources include surface-water runoff from both undeveloped and developed land areas, which may occur during rain events as well as dry weather periods. Nutrients can also enter waterbodies through groundwater flow, rainfall, industrial and municipal point-source discharges, and/or the deposition of particles from rainfall, dust, and smog. Another natural source to coastal waters is upwelling of nutrient-rich water from deeper areas of the ocean.
SCCWRP Research
Understanding major sources of nutrients to surface waters and the relative importance of each of these loads is critical for managing eutrophication. SCCWRP research also works to develop new methods for nutrient source tracking, such as isotope geochemistry. Project groups include:
Example of sampling equipment that can be used to quantify the addition of nutrients from the air into surface waters.
This page was last updated on: 1/27/2010