Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2014DE265B

Nutrient Loading in the Murderkill River

Institute: Delaware
Year Established: 2014 Start Date: 2014-06-01 End Date: 2015-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $3,500 Total Non-Federal Funds: $6,402

Principal Investigators: Alan Andres

Project Summary: Riverine ecosystems throughout the world are increasingly threatened by eutrophication caused by excess nutrients introduced by human land use and rapidly-growing coastal populations. Accurate quantification of nutrient loading is key information for assessing the severity of the eutrophication threat. Characterization of biogeochemical transformations of nutrient species in the stream is also a critical component in developing strategies to manage nutrients in the watershed and plans to remediate problems. Consequently, a multi-disciplinary study will be conducted to characterize and simulate physical and chemical conditions of streamflow and aquatic chemistry in the Murderkill River. Project components include: installation and routine maintenance of stream monitoring instrumentation, collection and field testing of water samples, compilation and assessment of water quality data, and estimation of stream flow.