Phosphorus in general is not a mobile nutrient (Padmasiri et al.,
1992) and is moved from the soil to the water bodies mainly due to
erosion. As a result, phosphate concentrations in well water have
not been detected at concentrations above water quality standards
(Zingoni et al., 2005). High concentrations in cultivated dambos
may be due to high fertiliser application rates which may result in
high concentrations in groundwater (Domagalski and Johnson,
2012). However, some organic forms of phosphorus are more mobile
especially in soils with low adsorption capacity (soils in this
study) and this may result in an increase in the mobility of phosphorus
thus its ability to travel in water