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ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #243705
Title: Pesticide Transport with Runoff from Fairway Turf: Measured Compared to Modeled

Author
item Rice, Pamela
item KRAMER, KIRSTEN - FORMER ARS EMPLOYEE
item HORGAN, BRIAN - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item HAMLIN, JENNIFER
item King, Kevin

Submitted to: Trade Journal Publication
Publication Type: Research Notes
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/27/2008
Publication Date: 6/30/2009
Citation: Rice, P.J., Kramer, K., Horgan, B.P., Rittenhouse, J.L., King, K.W. 2009. Pesticide Transport with Runoff from Fairway Turf: Measured Compared to Modeled. 2009 W-1045 Secretary's Report. CD-ROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Pesticides applied to turf grass have been detected in surface waters raising concerns of their affect on water quality and interest in their source, hydrological transport and use of models to predict transport. TurfPQ, a pesticide runoff model for turf grass, was evaluated to determine its ability to accurately predict the transport of pesticides with runoff following storm intensities similar to those recorded in Minnesota. The model predicted runoff quantities fairly well but consistently underestimated the transport of dicamba, flutolanil, and chlorpyrifos with runoff. The greatest source of error was not in estimates of the pesticide properties or turf characteristics but rather in the timing of predicted infiltration and runoff, which influenced the predicted availability of pesticides for transport with runoff. Changing the model’s chronological separation of infiltration and runoff and replacing the daily precipitation inputs with more frequent time steps would allow for more accurate predictions of pesticide transport with runoff during larger storm events. The ability to predict pesticide transport with runoff using computer models is a valuable tool for ecological and human risk assessment.