Latvia University of Agriculture - Latvijas Lauksaimniecības ...

V. Jansons, R. Sudārs Dimensions of Agri-Environmental Research in the Department ofEnvironmental Engineering and Water ManagementDimensions of Agri-Environmental Research in the Department ofEnvironmental Engineering and Water ManagementV. Jansons, R. SudārsFaculty of Rural EngineeringAbstract. The impact of human activity on the biosphere has produced globalenvironmental problems related to the natural resources and risks to ecological healthsuch as soil and water pollution calling for new solutions that help sustain the developmentof agriculture and protection of water resources. The present paper begins by recallingthe historical and project context from which a research work in the Department ofEnvironmental Engineering and Water Management has arisen in the 1990s afterhistorical and structural changes in the society of Latvia. The paper provides a discussionon research fields dealing with some of the core issues and approaches currently facedby the department, such as monitoring of agricultural run-off, environmental riskassessment, climate change impact evaluation, and water quality modelling. It can beemphasised that understanding the complex interactions between the use of land foragricultural production and water quality is essential in promoting the sustainable watermanagement in agriculture and healthy environment.Key words: agricultural production, environmental risk, water monitoring, modelling.IntroductionThe paper summarises the main research results of the Department of EnvironmentalEngineering and Water Management, and provides some perspective on the attempts tocope with environmental consequences of agricultural production. Every human activityhas, and always has had, an impact on the environment. This also applies to agriculture.Development of production systems has resulted in intensification, specialisation andconcentration of the agricultural production. The impact of these changes has beenobvious as much for the environment as for the water ecosystems (Jansons, 1999;Haraldsen et al., 1998).Farmers use commercial fertilisers, manure and other materials, and/or crop rotationsto replace nutrients withdrawn from the soil during production of agricultural crops(Busmanis, et al., 2001). Without replacing the soil with nutrients, crop yields or qualitywould decline in most cases (Haraldsen et al., 2001). Primary nutrients for crop growthand development include nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, but other macro- andmicro-nutrients are also important. If improperly applied, fertilisers can leach into thegroundwater or drain into the surface water (Vagstad et al., 2000a; 2000b; Busmaniset al., 2001; Deelstra et al., 2009). Nutrients in the surface water can cause eutrophication,oxygen depletion, fish kills, and reduction in recreation opportunities (Bechmann et al.,2004). High nitrate levels in drinking water also have adverse human health effects.In all countries of the Northern Europe, agriculture is estimated to be responsible forthe greatest contribution of phosphorus and nitrogen to coastal waters (Vagstad et al.,2001).Both the EU Nitrates Directive (ND) and Water Framework Directive (WFD) requirethat Latvia like all the Member States control the impact of agriculture on the surfaceand ground waters (Jansons et al., 2005). When assessing water quality, it should beconsidered whether all the territory of Latvia or only part of it, with the highest impactof agriculture measured in terms of high nitrate content (≥50 mg L -1 ) or eutrophicationphenomena, should be designated as nitrate vulnerable zones (NVZs). In addition, therisk that in the near future freshwater bodies or marine waters may contain more than50 mg L -1 nitrates (11.3 mg L -1 NO 3-N) and become euthropic, if actions in agricultureare not undertaken, also is a relevant aspect for designation of the NVZs. The riskassessment performed in the Department using GIS tools was based on the data of soiland groundwater media, run-off, potential erosion risk, agricultural activities, such asagricultural land and arable land use, animal density, soil drainage, and application offertilisers (Jansons et al., 2005).The Ministers for Environment of HELCOM member states met on November 15,2007 in Krakow, Poland, to adopt an ambitious overarching action plan to drasticallyLatvia University of Agriculture – 70, 2009 47