Research was conducted on experimental feedlots in Lubbock, Texas, to determine the characteristics of wastes from Southwestern cattle feedlots. The feedlots were generally operated in a manner conforming to normal commercial practice in the area. They were provided with collection pits that allowed the quantity of runoff to be measured accurately. Samples of runoff were collected routinely both during rainstorms and from the collection pits. Manure samples were also collected routinely for analysis. The quantity of runoff per unit area of concrete-surfaced lots is substantially greater than the quantity per unit area of dirt-surfaced lots. Concentrations of pollutants in concrete-lot runoff are substantially higher than corresponding concentrations in runoff from dirt-surfaced lots. Agronomic studies indicate that runoff can be used for irrigation of crops, but extreme caution is required in the application of runoff to crops to prevent damage to them.

Effects of rainfall runoff from a beef cattle feedlot on the water quality of a small impoundment were determined. Changes in chemical concentration of impounded water and changes in the community structure of aquatic organisms were measured and related to the amount and composition of feedlot runoff received. Water quality changes were also monitored in a nearby reservoir which received no feedlot runoff to serve as a control. Changes in chemical concentration or population structure of organisms were not apparent for discharges of about one-part feedlot runoff to 40 parts receiving water. Runoff discharges for two pumping periods with each contributing one-fourth of the volume of the receiving water were shown to degrade water quality in the impoundment. Several significant chemical and biological changes occurred. The most dramatic reduction in the biological community was the suffocation of about 90% of the game fish in the impoundment.

Detailed field and laboratory studies of five feedlots were conducted to determine field seepage rates and distributive geometry of infiltrated runoff. Practical field seepage rates at these sites ranged from 2 to 20 feet/year. Dispersal rates of ions in the groundwater zone varied from 45 to 400 feet/year. Nitrogen (NO₃, NO₂, NH₄, Org-N) and common chemical parameters (Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cl, SO₄, TDS, pH, and conductance) were determined in cores and groundwater samples; based on groundwater analyses from 80 Texas High Plains feedlots, rates of concentration of NO₃-N and Cl in groundwater beneath feedlots range from 0.07 to 0.4 p.p.m. per year, and average 0.17 p.p.m. per year.