Seasonal and storm event nutrient removal by a created wetland in an agricultural watershed

This study examines the effectiveness of a 1.2-ha created/restored emergent marsh at reducing nutrients from a 17.0 ha agricultural and forested watershed in the Ohio River Basin in west central Ohio, USA, during base flow and storm flow conditions. The primary source of water to the wetland was surface inflow, estimated in water year 2000 (October 1999–September 2000) to be 646 cm/year. The wetland also received a significant amount of groundwater discharge at multiple locations within the site that was almost the same in quantity as the surface flow. The surface inflow had 2-year averages concentrations of 0.79, 0.033, and 0.16 mg L⁻¹ for nitrate + nitrite (as N), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), and total phosphorus (TP), respectively. Concentrations of nitrate–nitrite, SRP, and TP were 40, 56, and 59% lower, respectively, at the outflow than at the inflow to the wetland over the 2 years of the study. Concentrations of SRP and TP exported from the wetland increased significantly (α = 0.05) during precipitation events in 2000 compared to dry weather flows, but concentrations of nitrate–nitrite did not increase significantly. During these precipitation events the wetland retained 41% of the nitrate–nitrite, 74% of the SRP, and 28% of the TP (by mass). The wetland received an average of 50 g N m⁻² per year of nitrate–nitrite and 7.1 g m⁻² per year of TP in 2000. Retention rates for the wetland were 39 g N m⁻² per year of nitrates and 6.2 g P m⁻² per year. These are close to rates suggested in the literature for sustainable non-point source retention by wetlands. The design of this wetland appears to be suitable as it retained a significant portion of the influent nutrient load and did not lose much of its retention capacity during heavy precipitation events. Some suggestions are given for further design improvements.