Lake Tutira: The use of phosphorus loadings in a management study

Abstract

Decisions on lake management will often have to be made when data are scarce. However, a nutrient budget based on limited data of varying reliability and on information from the literature may help considerably.

Lake Tutira's recreational uses are threatened by eutrophication. Artificial destratification is being used temporarily to protect the trout fishery. The annual phosphorus input to the lake was estimated from nutrient loading graphs, from scanty stream input data, and from land‐use information to be about 3100 kg (1.8 g·m^?2·y^?1).

The 5–10 times reduction in phosphorus loading apparently required to achieve mesotrophic to oligotrophic conditions establishes the need for major changes in the catchment. The phosphorus budget helped in assessing the relative importances of the input streams and evaluating stream diversion proposals. It suggested that phosphorus inputs came mostly from animal excreta, soil erosion, and fertiliser, and it provided support for farm management proposals. When the results of stream diversion and altered land management are known the phosphorus budget may help in deciding the optimum land area needed to be converted from pasture into forest.