FURI | Fall 2024, Summer 2024

Assessing the Impacts of Best Management Practices on Water Quality in the Southwestern United States – Is the Nonpoint Mitigation Strategy Working?

Best Management Practices (BMPs) are often designed to restore the water quality of impaired bodies of water. Their installation and maintenance is expensive, and they have limited post-installation analysis. There is a gap in the knowledge of long-term real-world efficiency of such systems, as their dynamics are complex, poorly understood, and have limited data. The research team looks at water quality changes pre- and post-BMP implementation from sites in the Southwestern United States. This allows for a better understanding of the impacts BMPs have on nutrient concentrations within the watershed. Future work would include expanding the study area nationwide.