Retention and transport of nutrients in a mature agricultural impoundment

Small impoundments intended for irrigation, livestock watering, and hydropower are numerous in agricultural regions of the world. Many of these artificial water bodies are well positioned to intercept fertilizer runoff and pollutants but could be vulnerable to long‐term sedimentation, management intervention, or failure. We examined solute retention in a mature, sediment‐filled, run‐of‐river impoundment created by a small, >100 year old dam in agricultural Wisconsin, United States. To do so, we measured instantaneous net fluxes of inorganic and organic solutes through the system, which contained wetlands. The impoundment was a persistent net sink for sulfate and, during the warm season only, a net sink for nitrate, ammonium, and soluble reactive phosphorus. There was also a negative relationship between nitrate and sulfate retention, suggestive of nitrate‐stimulated sulfate production. Impoundment hydraulics were then altered by a management manipulation (dam removal) that caused mean water travel time to decrease by approximately 40%. Following manipulation, autoregressive modeling of solute time series indicated a decrease in mean net retention of nitrate, sulfate, ammonium, and soluble reactive phosphorus. There was also a decrease in the variability (coefficient of variation) of instantaneous net exports of dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic phosphorus. These biogeochemical changes were consistent with predictions based on hydraulics (reduced water travel time), with the exception of ammonium release immediately following reservoir dewatering. Our results emphasize the biogeochemical importance of reservoir‐wetland ecosystems, which are expanding with impoundment sedimentation but are threatened by infrastructure aging. We suggest that reservoir wetlands be considered in the management of dams and surface water pollution. Key points Numerous small impoundments intercept polluted runoff and affect water qualityAs impoundments age, sedimentation promotes wetland establishmentChanges in the biogeochemical role of impoundments are expected as they age