Study recommends six steps to improve our water quality

Date:
February 14, 2022
Source:
University of Waterloo
Summary:
Nitrogen fertilizers are critical for growing crops to feed
the world, yet when applied in excess can pollute our water
for decades. A new study provides six steps to address nitrogen
pollution and improve water quality.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Nitrogen fertilizers are critical for growing crops to feed the world,
yet when applied in excess can pollute our water for decades. A new
study provides six steps to address nitrogen pollution and improve
water quality.


========================================================================== Since nitrogen persists for so long, management efforts may seem futile
and unattractive because it can take a long time to see results. The study
from the University of Waterloo appearing in Nature Geoscience provides
a roadmap for scientists, policymakers, and the public to overcome the challenges associated with this legacy nitrogen for faster improvements
to our water quality.

"We have to think about the legacy we leave for the future in a strategic
way from both the scientific and socio-economic angles," said Nandita
Basu, a professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering at Waterloo and the study's lead author. "This
is a call to action for us to accept that these legacies exist and figure
out how to use them to our advantage." The study recommends the following
six steps:
* Focus research to quantify the length of time the nitrogen stays
in our
ecosystems to adjust our expectations for conservation timelines.

* Find ways to use the legacy nitrogen as a resource for growing crops
instead of adding new nitrogen fertilizers to our ecosystems with
already high levels of nitrogen.

* Target conservation strategies to get the maximum water quality
improvement instead of a widespread blanket approach.

* Combine conservation methods that reduce the amount of nitrogen
that has
already left the farm fields, such as in wetlands, with methods
that harvest nitrogen from past legacies accumulated in the soil.

* Monitor water quality at both large and small scales so that
short-term
results can be seen at scales like a farm field and long-term
results downstream at river basins can also be tracked.

* When assessing the economic impacts of conservation strategies,
incorporate both short- and long-term cost-benefit analyses.

Nitrogen legacies are different around the world depending on the climate
and historical land use, and land management patterns. While theoretical knowledge of these legacies has existed for decades, measurements and monitoring have not yet been widespread enough to understand these
differences and support water quality policies, where there is still an expectation of short-term water quality improvement.

"It's time we stop treating nitrogen legacies as the elephant
in the room and design watershed management strategies that
can address these past legacies," said Basu. "We need to ask
ourselves how we can do better for the future." special promotion
Explore the latest scientific research on sleep and dreams
in this free online course from New Scientist -- Sign_up_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Waterloo. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Nandita B. Basu, Kimberly J. Van Meter, Danyka K. Byrnes,
Philippe Van
Cappellen, Roy Brouwer, Brian H. Jacobsen, Jerker Jarsjo", David L.

Rudolph, Maria C. Cunha, Natalie Nelson, Ruchi Bhattacharya,
Georgia Destouni, So/ren Bo/ye Olsen. Managing nitrogen legacies
to accelerate water quality improvement. Nature Geoscience, 2022;
15 (2): 97 DOI: 10.1038/s41561-021-00889-9 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220214095805.htm

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