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Introduction to
Agricultural Pollution Control
1
Pollution :
‘the introduction by man, directly or indirectly,
of substances or energy into the environment,
which are liable to create hazards to human health,
to harm living resources and marine ecosystems’
2
How can Agricultural Pollution harm our environment?
3
Eutrophic means nutrient-rich, and eutrophication literally
means enrichment with nutrients, although nowadays the term
is more often used in a negative sense to mean
over-enrichment.
4
Excessive nutrient inputs into a water body induce biological,
chemical and physical changes in aquatic plant and animal
communities, often leading to oxygen depletion, especially
in deeper waters.
5
Bluegreen algal blooms, Gulf of Finland
Photos from: Finnish Institute of Marine Research
6
(http://www2.fimr.fi/en/itamerikanta/galleria/15.
Weather conditions can alleviate or accelerate eutrophication.
Mild, wet winters are usually bad news for shallow, coastal
waters, as nutrients are washed from farmland into rivers,
lakes and ultimately the sea.
7
Bluegreen algal bloom, Gulf of Finland 6th August, 2002
Photos from: Finnish Institute of Marine Research
8
(http://www2.fimr.fi/en/itamerikanta/galleria/15.
Algal bloom on the Fyris River near SLU in Uppsala – the river
drains the intensively cultivated agricultural plain of Uppland
9
So the rivers and seas turn green for a while –
Who cares!?!
10
There are many reasons why governments and authorities
throughout the world are deeply concerned about the effects
of agricultural pollution.
11
Problems and causes - a summary
12
Problems and causes cont’d
High nutrient levels and the changes they cause in water quality
and the makeup of the algal community are detrimental to the
health of coral reefs and the diversity of animal life supported
by seaweed and kelp communities.
13
Problems and causes cont’d
Both agriculture and the burning of fossil fuels contribute
significantly to non-point flows of N to coastal waters, either as
direct runoff or airborne pollutants.
14
How do different agricultural activities contribute
to pollution, and how does this affect our ground
and surface waters??
15
Agricultural impacts on water quality
Impacts
Surface water Groundwater
Sediment/turbidity: sediments
carry phosphorus and pesticides
adsorbed to sediment particles;
siltation of river beds and loss
of habitat, spawning ground, etc.
16
Autumn ploughing in Sweden
17
Agricultural activity 2. Fertilizing
Impacts
Surface water Groundwater
18
Fertilizing with anhydrous ammonia
19
Agricultural activity 3. Manure spreading
Impacts
Surface water Groundwater
20
Muck spreading in Lithuania
21
Agricultural activity 4. Feedlots/animal paddocks
Impacts
Surface water Groundwater
22
Stock yard in Sweden
23
Agricultural activity 5. Irrigation
Impacts
Surface water Groundwater
Runoff of salts leading to salinization Enrichment of groundwater with
of surface waters; runoff of fertilizers salts, nutrients (especially nitrate).
and pesticides to surface waters with
ecological damage, bioaccumulation
in edible fish species, etc. High levels
of trace elements such as selenium
can occur with serious ecological
damage and potential human health
impacts.
24
Irrigation
25
Agricultural activity 6. Clear cutting
Impacts
Surface water Groundwater
26
Dramatic clear cut on the edges of a lake
27
Clear cut forest area with stream in Sweden
28
Agricultural activity 7. Silviculture
Impacts
Surface water Groundwater
29
Silviculture – managed forest in Sweden
30
Agricultural activity 8. Aquaculture
Impacts
Surface water Groundwater
31
Aquaculture – fish farming adds to the nutient burden
32
So, we have a problem and the authorities are aware of
it.
33
Ironically the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy has tended
to exasperate the problem!
35
Agricultural water pollution issues surfaced in connection
with the 1980 EU directive on drinking water, which required
member states to ensure that certain quality objectives
for drinking water were met by 1985.
But, during the second half of the 1980’s, it became clear that
most member states had not achieved these quality objectives.
36
We will see later that further reforms to the CAP in the late
1980’s (that offered subsidies to farmers who reduced livestock
density, decreased fertilizer use or switched to organic farming
or other extensive forms of production), some National
control measures introduced by individual member states,
and the introduction in 1991 of the Nitrate Directive,
are having some effects.
37
For some Candidate countries and Newly Applied States
problems regarding agricultural pollution of water are
compounded by the lack of a good Agricultural
Advisory Service infrastructure.
38
Let us now examine the situation in and around our
respective seas
39
I’ll start with the sea nearest home which of course is
40
41
Farming the land can pollute the sea
42
43
44
The environmental quality of the Baltic Sea is largely
influenced by the inputs of pollutants - particularly excessive
nutrients
Nutrients can enter the sea in runoff from arable land, mainly
via rivers and streams, but also along coasts; or in the form
of deposition from the air.
45
”Hot Spots”
46
http://maps.grida.no/scripts/esrimap.dll?name=hotspots&cmd=map.html
Follow the above link to access an interactive map with details of all
the known HOT SPOTS in the Baltic sea drainage basin.
47
48
Marine Research Vessel on the Baltic Sea
Photos from: Finnish Institute of Marine Research
(http://www2.fimr.fi/en/itamerikanta/galleria/15.html)
49
50
Deep water oxygen concentration in the
Baltic Proper and Gulf of Finland in 1999
Hypoxia (oxygen concentration < 2 ml/l, pink
areas) and Anoxia (with presence of hydrogen 51
sulphide, red areas) in 1999.
General Information
Priority No
Country SE
Measures proposed
Limit to animal density, winter green fields, increase storage cap and restrict handling
of manure
Latest Update
1999
52
Nitrogen (tonnes in 1995)
250 000
Poland
200 000
Sw eden
150 000
Latvia Russia
100 000 Denm ark
Finland
Estonia
50 000 Lithuania
Germ any
53
http://data.ecology.su.se/boing/index.html
54
Phosphorus (tonnes in 1995)
16 000 Poland
14 000
12 000
10 000
Russia
8 000
6 000 Sw eden
Finland
4 000 Denm ark
Latvia Lithuania
2 000 Estonia
Germ any
0
55
56
The 1990s - a decade of change for farming
160 000
140 000
120 000
100 000
80 000
60 000
40 000
20 000
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
59
Yearly applied P by mineral fertilizers (ton P) -
Poland
180 000
120 000
60 000
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
60
Yearly applied P by mineral fertilizers (ton P) -
Sweden
160 000
140 000
120 000
100 000
80 000
60 000
40 000
20 000
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
61
Nutrient inputs
62
Industrial emissions
of NO2
63
1000 tonnes
Industrial NO2 emissions
600
300
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Denmark Finland Germany
Latvia Lithuania Norw ay
Poland NW Russia Sw eden
Data Sources: Data sources: EMEP. Lithuania: Ministry of
Economy of the Republic of Lithuania. NW Russia: Russian
64
Baltic 21 Lead Parties.
Pig factory farm
65
Pig farm waste lagoon – a source of ammonia!
66
Trends in nutrient inputs
67
One of the non-point sources significantly contributing to the
pollution of the Baltic Sea is the agriculture sector, which is
estimated to account for 30-35 per cent of the total nitrogen
load to the Baltic.
68
69
1000 Riverine nitrogen inputs
tonnes
to the Baltic Sea
800
400
0
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995
40000
20000
0
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990
72
The 1974 Convention
For the first time ever, all the sources of pollution around
an entire sea were made subject to a single convention,
signed in 1974 by the then seven Baltic coastal states.
73
The 1992 Convention
74
The Helsinki Commission is responsible for monitoring
and implementing:
75
The countries in the Baltic Sea drainage basin have
committed to most of the conventions that touch upon the
issue of eutrophication. The most important treaty, the
Helsinki convention has all the coastal countries actively
involved.
76
Pollution & Monitoring General
Belarus
Czech Rep
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Germany
Latvia
Lithuania
Norway
Poland
Russia
Sweden
Ukraine
Key
Not signed
Signed, but not entered or accepted
Entered or accepted
Not applicable 77
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS)
78
Convention of Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
(LRTAP) - NOx Protocol
Among these are nitrous oxide (NOx), sulphur and volatile organic
compounds (VOC). The NOx protocol was selected for this indicator.
79
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance
especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention)
80
Convention on Access to Information , Public Participation
in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental
Matters (Aarhus convention)
81
Convention of Environmental Impact Assessment in a
Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention)
82
Now let us look at the situation around your sea
83
84
85
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% Total Nitrates
Danube
Dnieper
Dniester
2% 4% 1% 7%
Don
12% Sea of Azov
Bulgaria
0% Georgia
52% 7%
2% Romania
6%
7% Russia
Turkey
Ukraine
The Danube accounts for more than 50% of the total Nitrate
input to the Black Sea
87
88
Perceived major problems
89
90
(No more Jansson’s Temptation!!!!????)
91
92
Perceived major problems
93
Perceived major problems
94
Polluted beaches don’t attract many tourists!!
95