Riverine phosphorus gain and loss across the conterminous United States

Abstract. Excess riverine phosphorus represents a preeminent catalyst for water quality degradation. Spatial mapping and characterization of the net gain and loss of riverine phosphorus help discern the critical source areas. Here, we developed a dataset encompassing phosphate (PO43-) and total phosphorus (TP) gain and loss across catchments in the conterminous United States (CONUS). We compiled 51,394 PO43- and 285,675 TP concentration data points and estimated PO43- and TP loads at 963 and 2,317 stations, respectively. Next, we leveraged the upstream-downstream topology information from the National Hydrography Dataset Plus (NHDPlus) catchment map at the Hydrologic Unit Catalogue-12 (HUC12) level to derive the net gain and loss of riverine phosphorus across catchments in the CONUS. Such maps can be used to estimate potential contributions of point and non-point sources to riverine phosphorus pollution at refined spatial scales, identify different major factors controlling local riverine P gain and loss compared to P loads, and evaluate watershed model’s fidelity for representing riverine P cycling. The resultant dataset is provided in Excel (.xlsx) format, accessible at Figshare (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.28509317, Wang et al., 2025). Leveraging the HUC12 information for spatialization, the new datasets aim to address the existing gap in regional characterization of riverine phosphorus and support effective management practices across the CONUS.