U.S. Water News Online
TULSA, Okla. -- A watershed that helps supply Tulsa's taps would hold excess phosphorous for decades, even if all land application of chicken waste there was stopped today, a new study says.
The Oklahoma State University study found that 74 percent of the phosphorous flowing into Lake Eucha is coming from non-point sources such as chicken litter. Another 24 percent comes from the city wastewater plant in Decatur, Ark., which is fed by a chicken processing plant.
The study found it would take five years to see a reduction of phosphorous levels in the Lake Eucha watershed with no land application of waste.
After 30 years, the levels of phosphorus in the soil still would be significantly higher than normal agricultural crop production levels, the study showed.
The study is the third commissioned by the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority indicating that lakes Eucha and Spavinaw are being degraded by phosphorus. The lakes combine as one of Tulsa's main drinking water sources.
Too much phosphorous fuels voracious algae growth, causing taste and odor problems in the water.
With current application practices, which have been limited since 1998, the phosphorus could easily double by 2023, said study author Dan Storm, an associate professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering.
The phosphorous would slowly leach itself from the soil if all non-point sources of phosphorus are eliminated from the watershed, he said.
The Lake Eucha watershed lies in both Oklahoma and Arkansas and encompasses a proliferating chicken industry. The highest phosphorus levels are in Arkansas, which has 40 years of chicken production to Oklahoma's 25, officials said.
``Give Oklahoma another 10 years, and it will be in the same place as Arkansas,'' Storm said.
Mixing alum with chicken litter before land application could help reduce the effects of phosphorous, he said. Alum also could be used to treat the lakes.
Such lake treatment would cost the city about $1 million annually, utility authority chairwoman Patsy Bragg said.
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