ABSTRACT
Introduction............................................................................................................209 Surface Water Quality Concerns in the United States..........................................210 Surface Runoff Losses of Pollutants .....................................................................210 Runoff Volume.......................................................................................................213 Runoff Composition ..............................................................................................215 Carbon Management Effects on Surface Water Quality — Edge of Field..........217 Suspended Solids ...................................................................................................218 Pesticides................................................................................................................218 Nutrients.................................................................................................................219 Cost and Effectiveness of Best Management Practices ........................................220 Watershed Scale Effects of Carbon Management on Surface Water Quality ......221 Watersheds and Management of the Agrolandscape.............................................221 Field-scale and Experimental Watershed Research...............................................223 Watershed Models .................................................................................................224 Conclusions............................................................................................................229 References..............................................................................................................231
For purposes of this chapter, soil carbon (C) management refers to practices that maintain or enhance soil organic C concentrations. The intent is to demonstrate the potential benefits of soil C management on surface water quality. Practices that can enhance soil C concentrations include reducing tillage intensity and increasing biomass production through intensified crop rotations, fertilization, and crop selec-
tion. These practices increase C loading to the soil through increased biomass production, decrease the rate of C decomposition in the soil, retain C at the soil surface, or some combination of these mechanisms. Many of these practices are already in use, primarily as a means of reducing soil erosion on soils that are prone to erosion, and soil C management would provide another reason to promote their use on a greater proportion of the landscape.
