In the context of nonpoint source pollution, which practice helps reduce sediment and nutrient loads from fields?

In the context of nonpoint source pollution, which practice helps reduce sediment and nutrient loads from fields?

• A. Installing a single large stormwater detention pond.
• B. Nutrient management plans, cover crops, and vegetative buffer strips.
• C. Ban on all fertilizer use.
• D. Pavement over farm fields to prevent infiltration.

Answer: (B)

Nonpoint source pollution from fields comes from soil erosion and nutrient losses that ride along with runoff. The most effective way to cut both sediment and nutrient loads is to use a set of practices that address both how nutrients enter the field system and how runoff is transported. A nutrient management plan ensures fertilizers are applied in the right amount, at the right time, and in the right place, so less excess nitrogen and phosphorus are available to wash away. Planting cover crops keeps the soil protected year-round, reducing erosion and helping capture and recycle nutrients that might otherwise leave the field. Vegetative buffer strips along field edges slow runoff, trap sediment, and uptake nutrients with the help of growing vegetation. Together, these practices reduce the source of pollutants and the movement of sediment and nutrients to waterways, making them a comprehensive approach to nonpoint source pollution control. Single large detention ponds don't address the continuous, diffuse nature of field runoff; paving fields worsens runoff by preventing infiltration; and banning all fertilizer is impractical and unnecessary when targeted management and habitat-based controls achieve the same goal.

Nonpoint source pollution from fields comes from soil erosion and nutrient losses that ride along with runoff. The most effective way to cut both sediment and nutrient loads is to use a set of practices that address both how nutrients enter the field system and how runoff is transported.

A nutrient management plan ensures fertilizers are applied in the right amount, at the right time, and in the right place, so less excess nitrogen and phosphorus are available to wash away. Planting cover crops keeps the soil protected year-round, reducing erosion and helping capture and recycle nutrients that might otherwise leave the field. Vegetative buffer strips along field edges slow runoff, trap sediment, and uptake nutrients with the help of growing vegetation.

Together, these practices reduce the source of pollutants and the movement of sediment and nutrients to waterways, making them a comprehensive approach to nonpoint source pollution control.

Single large detention ponds don't address the continuous, diffuse nature of field runoff; paving fields worsens runoff by preventing infiltration; and banning all fertilizer is impractical and unnecessary when targeted management and habitat-based controls achieve the same goal.