Influencing policy and management to control nutrient enrichment in inland and coastal waters
Geographers at Bristol have produced new methods, models, monitoring techniques, and evidence to underpin policy and management of nutrient-enriched waters in the UK and internationally.
Issue
Nutrient-rich fertilisers and manures flushed from farmland to waters, along with sewage effluents discharged to waters, generate adverse impacts on ecosystem and human health. These impacts include the formation of harmful algal blooms, loss of biodiversity, closure of waters for amenity and recreation use, and the release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Approach
Researchers at Bristol University, as part of the Defra Demonstration Test Catchments (DTC) initiative, have conducted research to determine the nature, origins, and scale of the nutrient challenge in UK waters. This has delivered the first spatially accurate simulation of nutrient flux from land to all UK waters at 4km grid scale, and identified mitigation measures.
This research has revealed that existing routine water quality monitoring approaches do not fully capture the range of nutrient flux behaviours in catchments.
Impact
The DTC evidence is widely used by the UK Government, including reporting to the European Environment Agency on UK Bathing Water Quality in 2017.
The researchers have been invited to brief OECD Environment Ministers on the topic of Nitrogen.
Wessex Water have used the evidence to deliver the legally required reduction in phosphorus load released into rivers. They have offset these fluxes by implementing mitigation measures that farmers are compensated for implementing in the landscape.
More information
Institution: University of Bristol
Researcher: Professor Penny Johnes, Professor Jim Freer, Dr Charlotte Lloyd, Dr Gemma Coxon
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How to cite
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (2023) Geographers at Bristol have produced new methods, models, monitoring techniques and evidence to underpin policy and management of nutrient-enriched waters in the UK and internationally. Available at https://rgs.org/nutrientenrichment Last accessed on: <date>