Nitrogen and Phosphorus Loading from Drained Wetlands Adjacent to Upper Klamath and Agency Lakes, Oregon

The results of this study could be useful in helping to prioritize which drained wetlands may provide the greatest benefits with regard to reducing nutrient loads to the lake if restoration or landuse modifications are instituted. Recent acquisition and planned restoration of drained wetland areas at the Wood River and Williamson River North properties may produce significant reduction in the quantity of nutrients released by the decomposition of peat soils of these areas. If the water table rises to pre-drainage levels, the peats soils may become inundated most of the year, resulting in the continued long-term storage of nutrients within the peat soils by reducing aerobic decomposition. The maximum benefit, in terms of decreasing potential nutrient loss due to peat decomposition, could be the reduction of total nitrogen and total phosphorus loss to about onehalf that of the 1994–95 annual loss estimated for all the drained wetlands sampled for this study.