7409

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7409
• Author: U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Title: Quality of Water, Colorado River Basin.
• USFW Year: 1991.
• USFW - Doc Type: Progress Report No. 15,
• Copyright Material: NO

14 Chapter3-Colorado River Water Quality Assessment

and Mohave. As part of this investigation, a
second portion of the contract evaluated the
potential for successfully stimulating algal
growth on a large scale in Lake Mead using
artificial fertilization.

The principal goals of the prefertilization study
were to determine the most suitable types of
fertilizer for large-scale additions to Lake Mead,
to evaluate methods of fertilizer applications,
and to make recommendations regarding the
frequency of fertilizer additions.

Laboratory and cove experiments indicated that
liquid ammonium polyphosphate (10-34-0) and
either liquid ammonium nitrate (20-0-0) or
granular ammonium nitrate (34-0-0) were the
most suitable for nutrient enhancement.
Dispersal from slowly moving boats appeared to
be the most cost-effective method of uniformly
applying fertilizer. River injection offertilizer
was examined and determined nonviable
method of improving lake fertility because of
inflow densities and lake stratification.

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