Efforts to Reduce Pollution from Agriculture Paying Off Slowly

Efforts by farmers to reduce the amount of fertilizer that reaches drinking water sources can take years to have a positive impact, according to a new study from the University of Waterloo.

Source: Pixabay

The study found that that depending on the type of terrain, efforts to reduce algae-causing nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from reaching water sources such as the Great Lakes and can take decades to bear fruit.

"In recent years, people involved in agricultural have gone to great lengths and expense to try to reduce the impact of fertilizer on drinking water," said Nandita Basu, an associate professor of engineering and science at Waterloo. "What this study tells us, is that it can take a very long time to see the effects of pollution-reduction efforts, and that we have to be careful not to rush to judgement.

"The fact is, it can take up to 30-to-40 years for our efforts to have the desired impact."

As part of the study, Basu, together with Kimberly Van Meter, a postdoctoral fellow at Waterloo, reviewed more than 50 years-worth of environmental data from Canada's Grand River Watershed, including not only water quality data but also records of fertilizer application and livestock production.

After crunching the numbers, the researchers found that watershed nutrient inputs have actually been decreasing steadily since the late 1980s. Despite these decreases, however, water quality has been slow to respond.

Read full article: Phys.org

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Taxonomy

• Agriculture
• Nutrients Recovery
• Ecosystem Management
• Pollution
• Contaminant Movement Mapping
• Pollution
• Agriculture