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Protection of natural resources (water, land) is critical to maintain environmental and economic sustainability. Clean water is needed to sustain human and animal health, industry, natural systems, recreation, and tourism. Florida’s fresh water supplies are dwindling as demand is growing due to urbanization. The critical issues facing urbanizing regions include sustaining the water resources and providing clean water to the growing human populations. The human population in the coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico has increased from 8 million in 1960 to more than 17 million in 2000.
One of the major factors contributing to water scarcity in Florida and elsewhere is declining water quality. Many water bodies in coastal areas of the state have serious water pollution concerns, such as excess nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus), contamination of water and sediment by organic contaminants. Increase in population growth in Florida may aggravate the health of water bodies due to the conversion of pervious (rural) to impervious (urban) land. This land use conversion increases the amount of rainfall flowing from rooftops and lawns to driveways and streets. Increased runoff from urban areas carries a variety of contaminants such as nitrogen, phosphorus, metals, hydrocarbons, pesticides to storm drains that discharge to stormwater ponds and eventually to water bodies.
The coastal landscape of Florida is extremely sensitive to water pollution due to high rainfall, high urban irrigation water use, and dominance of sandy soils. It has been estimated that water quality begins to decline as urban land use approaches 10 to 15% in a watershed. Several watersheds in the west coast (greater Tampa Bay area) and east coast (Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami areas) of Florida are close to or exceed 10 to 15% threshold limit of urban land use and other less urban watersheds are rapidly urbanizing. Increased nutrient and contaminant losses from urban land accelerate water quality problems that threaten recreational use of coastal waters, severely affecting the tourism industry, and thus Florida’s economy. Our group is involved in controlling nutrients and organic contaminant losses from urban land to water bodies to protect Florida’s diminishing water resources.
The overall goal of Environmental Soil Chemistry and Water Quality Lab is to develop solutions to manage nutrients and organic contaminants to protect water quality in urbanizing areas of Florida. Research is focused to gain understanding of processes and mechanisms to reduce impacts of nutrients on water quality. The outcomes of this research will foster to reduce human-induced environmental impacts on water quality and improved quality of life of Florida citizens.
Peer Reviewed - click on publication title to access.
52. Toor, G.S., L. Han, & C.D. Stanley. 2012. Temporal
variability in water quality parameters-a case study of drinking water
reservoir in Florida, USA. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.
In Press.
51. Khare, Y.P., C.J. Martinez, & G.S. Toor. 2012.
Water quality
and land use changes in the Alafia and Hillsborough river watersheds,
Florida, USA. Journal of American Water Resources Association. In
Press.
50. Pannu, M.W., G.S. Toor, G.A. O’Connor, & P.C. Wilson. 2012.
Toxicity and bioaccumulation of biosolids-borne triclosan in food crops.
Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry. 31: 2130-2137.
49. Lusk, M.G. & G.S. Toor. 2012.
Urban watersheds: geology, contamination, and sustainable development. Journal
of Environmental Quality.
41: 617-618. [Book review].
48. Carey, R.O., G. Hochmuth, C.J. Martinez, T.H. Boyer, V.D. Nair,
M.D. Dukes, G.S. Toor, A.L. Shober, J.L. Cisar, L.E. Trenholm, &
J.B. Sartain. 2012.
A Review of Turfgrass Fertilizer Management
Practices: Implications for Urban Water Quality. HORTTECHNOLOGY.
22: 280-291.
46. Pannu, M.W., G.A. O'Connor, & G.S. Toor.
2012.
Toxicity and bioaccumulation of biosolids-borne triclosan in terrestrial
organisms. Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry.
31:646-653.
45. Chahal, M.K., G.S. Toor, & B.M. Santos. 2012
Chemical
characterization of tomato industry wastewater, Florida, United States.
Journal of Water Resource and Protection. 4:107-114.
44.
Hagan, D. C.
Dobbs, N. Timilsina, F. Escobedo,
G.S.Toor, & Andreu, M.
2012.
Anthropogenic effects on the physical and chemical properties
of subtropical coastal urban soils.
Soil Use and Management.
43.
Waria,
M., G.A. O’Connor, & G.S. Toor. 2011.
Biodegradation
of triclosan in biosolids-amended soils. Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry.
42. Chahal,
M.K., G.S. Toor, P. Nkedi-Kizza, & B.M. Santos. 2011.
Effect
of tomato packinghouse wastewater on phosphorus and cation leaching
in a spodosol.
Journal of Environmental Quality.
40:999–1009.
39. Chahal, M.K., G.S. Toor, & P. Brown. 2010. Trace metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in an urbanized area of Florida. Soil and Sediment Contamination. 19:419–435.
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37. Banger, K., G.S. Toor, A. Biswas, S.S. Sidhu, & K. Sudhir. 2010. Soil organic carbon fractions after 16-years of applications of fertilizers and organic manure in a Typic Rhodalfs in semi-arid tropics. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 86: 391–399.
36. Stanley, C.D. & G.S. Toor. 2010. Florida commercial horticultural production: constraints limiting water and nutrient use efficiency. HortTechnology. 20: 89–93.
34. Toor, G.S. 2009. Enhancing phosphorus availability in low-phosphorus soils by using poultry manure and commercial fertilizer. Soil Science. 174:358–364
33. Toor, G.S. & B.E. Haggard. 2009. Phosphorus and trace metal dynamics in soils amended with poultry litter and granulates. Soil Use & Management. 25:409–418.
water quality sampling to estimate constituent loads for ephemeral watersheds in Texas. Journal of Environmental Quality.
37:1847–1854.
30. Toor, G.S., B.E. Haggard, & A.M. Donoghue. 2007. Water extractable trace elements in poultry litters and granulated products. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. 16:351–360.
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21. Toor, G.S., J.T. Sims, and Z. Dou. 2005. Reducing phosphorus in dairy diets improves farm nutrient balances and decreases the risk of nonpoint pollution of surface and ground waters. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment. 105:401–411.
19. Verma, V.K., L.B. Patel, G.S. Toor, & P.K. Sharma. 2005. Spatial distribution of macronutrients in soils of arid tract of Punjab, India. International Journal of Agriculture and Biology. 7:285-297.
18. Toor, G.S., L.M. Condron, H.J. Di, & K.C. Cameron. 2004. Seasonal fluctuations in phosphorus loss by leaching from a free draining grassland soil. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 68:1429–1436.
17. Toor, G.S., L.M. Condron, H.J. Di, K.C. Cameron, & J.T. Sims. 2004. Assessment of phosphorus leaching losses from a free draining grassland soil. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 69:169–184.
16. Toor, G.S., L.M. Condron, H.J. Di, K.C. Cameron, & J.T. Sims. 2004. Impact of farm dairy effluent application on amounts and forms of phosphorus loss from irrigated grassland. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research (Special Issue on Land Treatment of Farm Effluents). 47:479–490.
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13. Toor, G.S., L.M. Condron, H.J. Di, K.C. Cameron, & B.J. Cade-Menun. 2003. Characterization of organic phosphorous in leachate from a grassland soil. Soil Biology & Biochemistry. 35:1317-1323.
9. Patel, L.B., V.K. Verma, G.S. Toor, & P.K. Sharma. 2001. Ground water quality for irrigation: Its assessment and management in District Mansa, Punjab (India). Ecology, Environment and Conservation. 7:315–318.
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