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Agricultural production is one of the main sources of nitrogen and phosphorous inputs to the water bodies. Quantifying nutrient input from agriculture is needed both to develop effective environmental measures and to justify the technologies to be applied with due account for local natural and climatic conditions. Several related national studies have been conducted since 2015. Institute for Engineering and Environmental Problems in Agricultural Production (IEEP) methodology was used for this purpose. It determines the nitrogen and phosphorus content in the arable layer, including N and P amounts applied with mineral and organic fertilisers. Such factors as soil type and texture, the distance to the water bodies and the land use structure are used to estimate the nutrient input to the water bodies. In addition, the consistency of manure handling technologies with Best Available Techniques (BAT) principles is taken into account through introduction of relevant coefficients. Calculation results according to IEEP methodology were used in the followup general assessment of the nutrient load on the water bodies from different sources with the use of Institute of Limnology Load Model. Satisfactory correspondence between the assessment results and the values calculated using the monitoring data confirmed the adequacy of the above assessment procedure. Following its outcomes, the nutrient reduction potential of agricultural sources is approximately 10-20 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017 a field study of water bodies in Nevel and Usvyatsky Districts of Pskov Region was aimed to give qualitative and quantity estimation of the impact of local large-scale pig enterprises on the status of water bodies in the Western Dvina river basin. Water samples were taken and the flow was measured on the vulnerable areas and outside the farm impact area in accordance with an elaborated programme and methods of field measurements. Soil samples were collected from the fields, where liquid pig manure was applied. The results showed that on the local level, in the vicinity of these fields, the water bodies featured high levels of main manure pollution indicators - ammonium nitrogen and phosphorous. The concentration of ammonium varied from 4.4 to 32.7 mg· l-1 at these points that was several hundred times higher than that in water bodies in natural areas; the concentration of dissolved phosphorus varied from 0.11 to 0.23 mg· l-1 that was several times higher than the background values. The concentration of these elements was dropping down to the background level with the distance from the fields as the result of self-purification and dilution processes owing to natural conditions, associated mainly with the presence of wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]