PLANT NUTRIENTS IN BASE FLOW OF STREAMS IN SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN

The study covers a two year period in order to determine the plant nutrients in the base flow of southwestern Wisconsin streams. The average base flow from 36 drainage areas covering a total of 643 square miles was 0.360 cu ft/sec sq mi, representing 4.9 in/yr. The annual nutrient losses in base flow were nitrogen, 1.1 lbs/acre; phosphorus, 0.10 lb/acre; and potassium, 1.8 lbs/acre. These losses were only one fourth of those in the 1967 surface runoff from 0.01‐acre plots at the Lancaster Experimental Farm and three Agricultural Research Service watersheds near Fennimore, Wisconsin. Copyright 1969 by the American Geophysical Union.