Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2017MD343B

Assessing nitrate reduction potential in Maryland’s agricultural water resources (Graduate Fellowship)

Institute: Maryland
Year Established: 2017 Start Date: 2017-03-01 End Date: 2017-09-30
Total Federal Funds: $6,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $15,127

Principal Investigators: Eric Davidson, Kaye Brubaker

Project Summary: Managing Maryland’s water resources in agricultural settings is an essential action that impacts agricultural economies and environmental health. One best management practice that uses water resources to reduce nutrient runoff is a drainage control structure that regulates the amount of water retained in agricultural fields. The purpose is to keep more water in the fields, creating more optimal conditions for denitrification, which reduces the amount of nitrate runoff that can potentially pollute downstream waters. The purpose of this project is to quantify the amount of denitrification using an isotopic mass balance approach combined with soil gas emission measurements.