Katherine J. Stenehjem William R. Selbig 2023 <p>This report describes a study that characterized reductions in total and dissolved forms of phosphorus and nitrogen in stormwater runoff through implementation of a municipal leaf collection and street cleaning program in two medium-density residential catchments in Madison, Wisconsin. One catchment was established as a control in which no effort was made to remove leaf litter and other organic detritus from streets. The second catchment served as the test catchment in which leaf litter was removed through a combination of biweekly leaf collection and weekly mechanical-broom street cleaning. Loads of total and dissolved phosphorus in the test catchment were reduced by 46 and 51&nbsp;percent (probability less than 0.20), respectively, and total and dissolved nitrogen by 42 and 52&nbsp;percent (probability less than 0.20), respectively, with an active leaf collection and street cleaning program compared to no program in the control catchment. Results from this study support an ongoing effort to characterize how various combinations of municipal leaf collection and street cleaning can affect nutrient loads in urban runoff.</p> application/pdf 10.3133/ofr20231061 en U.S. Geological Survey Fall contributions of phosphorus and nitrogen in stormwater runoff through weekly street cleaning reports