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Catchment-Scale Analysis Reveals High Cost-Effectiveness of Wetland Buffer Zones as a Remedy to Non-Point Nutrient Pollution in North-Eastern Poland
- Source :
- Water, Volume 12, Issue 3, Water, Vol 12, Iss 3, p 629 (2020), Jabłońska, E, Wiśniewska, M, Marcinkowski, P, Grygoruk, M, Walton, C R, Zak, D, Hoffmann, C C, Larsen, S E, Trepel, M & Kotowski, W 2020, ' Catchment-scale analysis reveals high cost-effectiveness of wetland buffer zones as a remedy to non-point nutrient pollution in north-eastern Poland ', Water (Switzerland), vol. 12, no. 3, 629 . https://doi.org/10.3390/w12030629
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Large-scale re-establishment of wetland buffer zones (WBZ) along rivers is regarded as an effective measure in order to reduce non-point source nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollution in agricultural catchments. We estimated efficiency and costs of a hypothetical establishment of WBZs along all watercourses in an agricultural landscape of the lower Narew River catchment (north-eastern Poland, 16,444 km2, amounting to 5% of Poland) by upscaling results obtained in five sub-catchments (1087 km2). Two scenarios were analysed, with either rewetting selected wetland polygons that collect water from larger areas (polygonal WBZs) or reshaping and rewetting banks of rivers (linear WBZs), both considered in all ecologically suitable locations along rivers. Cost calculation included engineering works necessary in order to establish WBZs, costs of land purchase where relevant, and compensation costs of income forgone to farmers (needed only for polygonal WBZs). Polygonal WBZs were estimated in order to remove 11%&ndash<br />30% N and 14%&ndash<br />42% P load from the catchment, whereas linear WBZs were even higher with 33%&ndash<br />82% N and 41%&ndash<br />87% P. Upscaled costs of WBZ establishment for the study area were found to be 8.9 M EUR plus 26.4 M EUR per year (polygonal WBZ scenario) or 170.8 M EUR (linear WBZ scenario). The latter value compares to costs of building about 20 km of an express road. Implementation of buffer zones on a larger scale is thus a question of setting policy priorities rather than financial impossibility.
- Subjects :
- Pollution
lcsh:Hydraulic engineering
Cost effectiveness
Hydrological modelling
media_common.quotation_subject
Geography, Planning and Development
Drainage basin
Wetland
wetland buffer zones
Narew River
Aquatic Science
Biochemistry
lcsh:Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes
lcsh:TC1-978
Wetland buffier zones
ddc:3
cost calculation
Water Science and Technology
media_common
Hydrology
lcsh:TD201-500
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
business.industry
article
hydrological modelling
eutrophication
Agriculture
Nutrient pollution
Environmental science
ddc:333.7
Eutrophication
business
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20734441
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Water
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....6468befb2bd0737537951714cad59e61
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/w12030629