Nutrient Loadings to Utah Lake from Precipitation-Related Atmospheric Deposition

Atmospheric deposition (AD) is a less understood and quantified source of nutrient loading to waterbodies. AD occurs via settling (large particulates), contact (smaller particulates and gaseous matter), and precipitation (rain, snow) transport pathways. Utah Lake is a shallow eutrophic freshwater lake located in central Utah, USA, with geophysical characteristics that make it particularly susceptible to AD-related nutrient loading. Studies have shown AD to be a significant contributor to the lake’s nutrient budget. This study analyzes nutrient samples from nine locations around the lake and four precipitation gauges over a 6-year study period using three different methods to estimate AD from the precipitation transport pathway. The methods used are simple averaging, Thiessen polygons, and inverse distance weighting, which we use to spatially interpolate point sample data to estimate nutrient lake loads. We hold that the inverse distance weighting method produces the most accurate results. We quantify, present, and compare nutrient loads and nutrient loading rates for total phosphorus (TP), total inorganic nitrogen (TIN), and ortho phosphate (OP) from precipitation events. We compute loading rates for the calendar year (Mg/yr) from each of the three analysis methods along with monthly loading rates where Mg is 106 g. Our estimated annual precipitation AD loads for TP, OP, and TIN are 120.96 Mg/yr (132.97 tons/yr), 60.87 Mg/yr (67.1 tons/yr), and 435 Mg/yr (479.5 tons/yr), respectively. We compare these results with published data on total AD nutrient loads and show that AD from precipitation is a significant nutrient source for Utah Lake, contributing between 25% and 40% of the total AD nutrient load to the lake.