Ideally, rain or irrigated water and/or effluent infiltrates the soil and moves into the plant root systems. If the soil is saturated or if the rain or irrigated water is more than the soil can handle, water can move off the site and take nutrients with it. The nutrients are lost to the pasture system.
IMAGE: Farmland during the 2015 Whanganui district floods. © Whanganui District Council.
