Robert C. Walter

The compounding effects of anthropogenic legacies for environmental pollution are significant, but not well understood. Here, we show that centennial‐scale legacies of milldams and decadal‐scale legacies of road salt salinization interact in unexpected ways to produce hot spots of nitrogen (N) in riparian zones. Riparian groundwater and stream water concentrations upstream of two mid‐Atlantic (Pennsylvania and Delaware) milldams, 2.4 and 4 m tall, were sampled over a 2 year period. Clay and silt‐rich legacy sediments with low hydraulic conductivity, stagnant and poorly mixed hydrologic conditions, and persistent hypoxia in riparian sediments upstream of milldams produced a unique biogeochemical gradient with nitrate removal via denitrification at the upland riparian edge and ammonium‐N accumulation in near‐stream sediments and groundwaters. Riparian groundwater ammonium‐N concentrations upstream of the milldams ranged from 0.006 to 30.6 mgN L⁻¹ while soil‐bound values were 0.11–456 mg kg⁻¹. We attribute the elevated ammonium concentrations to ammonification with suppression of nitrification and/or dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). Sodium inputs to riparian groundwater (25–1,504 mg L⁻¹) from road salts may further enhance DNRA and ammonium production and displace sorbed soil ammonium‐N into groundwaters. This study suggests that legacies of milldams and road salts may undercut the N buffering capacity of riparian zones and need to be considered in riparian buffer assessments, watershed management plans, and dam removal decisions. Given the widespread existence of dams and other barriers and the ubiquitous use of road salt, the potential for this synergistic N pollution is significant.

Nitrogen (N) retention is a common goal of stream-wetland restoration projects in systems with excess nitrate (NO₃⁻), however N retention depends on habitats with high denitrification and uptake rates that interact with NO₃⁻. Legacy sediments deposited along formerly impounded streams bury and disconnect historic floodplain-wetland systems. This disconnection limits sediment-water interactions, decreases N retention and increases N delivery. Restoration with legacy sediment removal should lead to greater N retention due to the reestablishment of wet habitats that interact with NO₃⁻-rich water, but the formation of biogeochemically retentive soils under modern conditions of high NO₃⁻, N retention rates, and recovery time are unclear. An experimental restoration approach undertaken at Big Spring Run in Lancaster, PA, USA was used to test the hypothesis that reconnection of a stream to its historic floodplain with legacy sediment removal enhances N processing and retention. We describe changes in sediment and water concentrations of N and organic carbon (C) along with the changes in sediment biogeochemical processing rates of denitrification, nitrification, and C mineralization, before and for five years following restoration. Our results show that biogeochemical processing increased and higher NO₃⁻ retention developed following stream-wetland restoration. NO₃⁻ retention improved after several years as organic matter accumulated to ultimately support higher rates of denitrification that transitioned from organic C limitation to NO₃⁻ limitation. We conclude that, in systems with high contemporary NO₃⁻, restoration via legacy sediment removal and floodplain reconnection can lead to the accumulation of organic matter and improved biogeochemical NO₃⁻ retention over time

Dam removals are on the increase across the US with Pennsylvania currently leading the nation. While most dam removals are driven by aquatic habitat and public safety considerations, we know little about how dam removals impact water quality and riparian zone processes. Dam removals decrease the stream base level, which results in dewatering of the riparian zone. We hypothesized that this dewatering of the riparian zone would increase nitrification and decrease denitrification, and thus result in nitrogen (N) leakage from riparian zones. This hypothesis was tested for a 1.5 m high milldam removal. Stream, soil water, and groundwater N concentrations were monitored over 2 years. Soil N concentrations and process rates and δ¹⁵N values were also determined. Denitrification rates and soil δ¹⁵N values in riparian sediments decreased supporting our hypothesis but no significant changes in nitrification were observed. While surficial soil water nitrate‐N concentrations were high (median 4.5 mg N L⁻¹), riparian groundwater nitrate‐N values were low (median 0.09 mg N L⁻¹), indicating that nitrate‐N leakage was minimal. We attribute the low groundwater nitrate‐N to denitrification losses at the lower, more dynamic, groundwater interface and/or dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). Stream water nitrate‐N concentrations were high (median 7.6 mg N L⁻¹) and contrary to our dam‐removal hypothesis displayed a watershed‐wide decline that was attributed to regional hydrologic changes. This study provided important first insights on how dam removals could affect N cycle processes in riparian zones and its implications for water quality and watershed management.

To protect karst spring water resources, catchments must be known. We have developed a method for correlating spring hydrographs with newly available, high‐resolution, satellite‐based Global Precipitation Measurement data to rapidly and remotely locate recharge areas. We verify the method using a synthetic comparison of ground‐based rain gage data with the satellite precipitation data set. Application to karst springs is proven by correlating satellite data with hydrographs from well‐known springs with published catchments in Europe and North America. Application to an unknown‐catchment spring in Pennsylvania suggests distant recharge, requiring a flow path that crosses topographic divides, as well as multiple lithologies, physiographic provinces, and tectonic boundaries. Although surprising, this latter result is consistent with published geologic/geophysical, monitoring well, and stream gage data. We conclude that the method has considerable potential to improve the speed and accuracy of catchment identification and hydrodynamic characterization, with applications to water resource protection and groundwater exploration, among others.

Riparian and valley-margin hardwood species of pre-colonial Piedmont forests: A preliminary study of subfossil leaves from White Clay Creek, southeastern Pennsylvania, USA