Baseflow water quality behaviour: implications for wetland performance monitoring

Abstract

A study was undertaken in Melbourne, Australia, to monitor pollutants conveyed in urban runoff during stormflows. Water quality monitoring was extended beyond the storm hydrograph, enabling post-storm baseflow samples to be collected. The study aimed to gain insights into the interaction between inter-event water quality behaviour and current wetland monitoring strategies used to report baseflow and storm event treatment performance. Extending water quality monitoring identified a secondary pollutograph for total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) (consisting predominantly of dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus constituents) suggesting that inter-event concentrations do not exhibit steady..