Three essays on phosphorus runoff and water quality

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Water pollution caused by nutrients, and the resulting eutrophication, have increased over time. This water pollution is increasingly caused by non-point source pollution, both nutrients and erosion. Controlling non-point pollution is important for water quality. However, non-point source pollution is not easy to track and control. In this case, management efforts can be solutions for these environmental issues in both urban and agricultural areas. In this dissertation, I focus on phosphorous (P) fertilizer because P is the limiting nutrient in freshwater systems. If we can reduce P runoff from urban and agricultural non-point sources, water quality can be improved. ... By analyzing national water quality and political economy data and by investigating a national survey of soybean producers, this dissertation found implications to increase adoption of environmentally friendly policies and practices. Solving this problem will require efforts to limit both residential and agricultural nonpoint source pollution. The results could be helpful policy makers to target specific regions to initiate environmental policies and extension efforts for designing educational programs to increase adoption rate as well as environmental quality.