Controlling nitrogen release from farm ponds with a subsurface outflow device: Implications for improved water quality in receiving streams

The retention of nutrients in farm ponds has many potential benefits, including reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus (promoters of eutrophication) in receiving streams. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a commercial subsurface pond outflow control device (Pond Management System™) on nutrient retention in farm ponds. Four ponds of similar size and water chemistry in the upper Tar River basin of North Carolina, USA were studied; three were equipped with the pond outflow control device and one was retained without a device (normal surface outflow) that served as a reference site. Water samples were collected monthly from each pond at 0.3 m intervals from the surface to 2.1 m at a fixed station adjacent to the pond standpipe and from the pond outflow pipe from March to October 2005. The water samples were analyzed for total Kjeldahl nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), chlorophyll a, and a suite of other physicochemical variables. In ponds with the subsurface outflow device, the mean N concentrations in the outflow were substantially less (6.2–20.7%) than concentrations at the pond surface. Concentrations of N in the outflow were similar to N concentrations at intermediate pond depths (0.9–1.5 m), the depth of the outflow devices, indicating water was drawn from these depths and that N was being retained in the surface layers of the pond. Also, mean water temperatures were 1.1–1.9 °C cooler at intermediate depths compared to the surface, suggesting potential application of the outflow device for minimizing warm water outflows to receiving streams. These results provide evidence that under these conditions a subsurface pond outflow device can reduce nutrient release to receiving streams, thereby increasing overall stream water quality.