Modelling Nitrate Reduction Strategies from Diffuse Sources in the Po River Basin

Water contamination caused by the presence of excessive amounts of nitrate can be catastrophic for aquatic ecosystems and human health. Due to these high risks, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on finding effective measures to reduce nitrate concentrations in rivers and aquifers. In this stu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water (Basel) 2019-05, Vol.11 (5), p.1030
Main Authors: Malagó, Anna, Bouraoui, Fayçal, Pastori, Marco, Gelati, Emiliano
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural management
Agricultural practices
Agriculture
Analysis
Aquatic ecosystems
Aquifers
Basins
Calibration
Cereal crops
Contamination
Cover crops
Creeks & streams
Crops
Fertilizers
Geospatial data
Groundwater
Hydrology
Land use planning
Leaching
Nitrate reduction
Nitrates
Nitrogen
Nutrients
Organic fertilizers
Pollution
Population density
Precipitation
Red clover
Remote sensing systems
River basins
River networks
Rivers
Strategic planning (Business)
Stream discharge
Stream flow
Streamflow
Surface water
Water pollution
Water quality
Watersheds
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Summary:Water contamination caused by the presence of excessive amounts of nitrate can be catastrophic for aquatic ecosystems and human health. Due to these high risks, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on finding effective measures to reduce nitrate concentrations in rivers and aquifers. In this study, we used the SWAT model based on grid-cells of 5 minutes of resolution for assessing the processes involved in nitrate loads generation and transport into aquifers and rivers and for providing basin management strategies of nitrate reduction. We applied the model in the Po River Basin (Italy), one of the most densely populated and highly agriculturally exploited area in the Mediterranean basin. The model was successfully calibrated and validated in eight monitoring stations along the Po River for the period 2000–2012. Simulated monthly streamflow and nitrate concentrations were in good agreement with observations, obtaining values of bias around ±25% in both calibration and validation. Among the tested scenarios of nitrogen reduction from agricultural sources, red clover cover crop after corn, coupled with a targeted reduction of mineral fertilizers and the limitation of nitrogen manure leads to a reduction of nitrate leaching and nitrogen emissions of around 37%.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w11051030