Nutrient loading and drainage channel response in a ricefield system

Nitrogen and phosphorus released into the water of a main drainage channel in the Ebro Delta was measured during a period of rice cultivation. An increase in total nitrogen and phosphorus in its different forms in accordance with the increase in cultivated area drained was observed. A significant correlation between the release of nutrients into the water and the nutrient load, for both nitrogen and phosphorus, if we consider the release of nutrients per unit of length of the channel and increased total phosphorus content of the water that flows through it during the period of rice cultivation. Physical and chemical changes in the water as a result of ricefield metabolism may explain the differences observed in nitrogen and phosphorus cycles between Ebro and Rhone Deltas, two mediterranean deltaic systems where a large area with similar drainage system is used for rice cultivation.