The evaluation and prediction of agriculture-related nitrate contamination in groundwater in Chengdu Plain, southwestern China

Zhang, Han; Yang, Ruxing; Wang, Yu; Ye, Rongzhong

doi:10.1007/s10040-018-1886-z

Cited by 42 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…For this task, an export coefficient model was applied, according to which the nitrate loading is calculated as a fraction of the total on-ground nitrogen loading, accounting for the several biochemical transformations of nitrogen occurring in the soil, such as mineralization, immobilization, nitrification, denitrification and plant uptake [17,25,56]. In particular, nitrate loading is calculated by multiplying nitrogen loading with predefined export coefficients depending on the types of nitrogen sources [14,40,54,55,61,62]. The export coefficients adopted in the current study for the different types of nitrogen sources within the area of interest were obtained from relevant literature sources [50,54,61], and are presented in Table 5.…”

Section: Overview Of the Existing Groundwater Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Natural sources like decomposing organic matter or atmospheric nitrogen deposition also contribute to nitrate occurrence in groundwater, but anthropogenic sources tend to have a more pronounced impact due to their scale and intensity [1,[6][7][8][9][10]. Among various human nitrate sources, agricultural activities, and especially the use of nitrogen-rich fertilizers for enhancing crop productivity, have been recognized as the main cause of groundwater nitrate contamination worldwide, posing a serious threat to rural areas [8,[11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerical models, by simulating how nitrates move and behave in groundwater over space and time, provide insight into the potential outcomes of protection measures in advance, and they serve as a tool to support science-based policy decisions (i.e., nitrate abatement policies) [25,[35][36][37][38]. Several studies have implemented numerical modeling through the development of nitrate fate and transport models to simulate and assess the impact of fertilization regulation practices on nitrate contamination levels (e.g., [14,17,31,32,35,[38][39][40]). Other studies (e.g., [25,29,[41][42][43]) have expanded their scope beyond the environmental benefits of fertilization regulations by incorporating the potential economic consequences stemming from their implementation into their analysis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Integrated Framework to Assess the Environmental and Economic Impact of Fertilizer Restrictions in a Nitrate-Contaminated Aquifer

Siarkos,

Mallios,

Latinopoulos

2024

Hydrology

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Groundwater nitrate contamination caused by the excessive use of nitrogen-based fertilizers has been widely recognized as an issue of significant concern in numerous rural areas worldwide. To mitigate nitrate contamination, corrective management practices, such as regulations on fertilizer usage, should be implemented. However, these measures often entail economic consequences that impact farmers’ income, and thus should be properly assessed. Within this context, an integrated framework combining the environmental and economic assessment of fertilization restrictions through multi-criteria decision analysis is presented in an effort to efficiently manage groundwater nitrate contamination in rural areas. For this task, various scenarios involving reductions (10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%) in fertilizer application were investigated, evaluated and ranked in order to determine the most suitable option. The environmental assessment considered occurrences of nitrates in groundwater, with a specific emphasis on nitrate concentrations in water-supply wells, as obtained by a nitrate fate and transport model, while the economic analysis focused on the losses experienced by farmers due to the reduced fertilizer usage. Our case-study implementation showed that a 30% reduction in fertilization is the most appropriate option for the area being studied, highlighting the importance of adopting such an approach when confronted with conflicting outcomes among alternatives.

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Section: Overview Of the Existing Groundwater Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Integrated Framework to Assess the Environmental and Economic Impact of Fertilizer Restrictions in a Nitrate-Contaminated Aquifer

Siarkos,

Mallios,

Latinopoulos

2024

Hydrology

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“…As aforementioned, the agricultural plots, are the main land use in the Gallocanta basin. Traditionally, agriculture has been widely recognised as one of the most hazardous activities for groundwater quality (Sutton et al, 2011;Wick et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2019), due to the leaching of fertilisers and pesticides used for increasing production. Consequently, in agricultural areas, the most frequent pollutants are nitrates and other contaminants related to fertilisation, which could be considered less harmful than contaminants from industrial or urban sources and are easier to mitigate by natural dissolution (Vías, 2005).…”

Section: Differences Related To the Inventory Of Hazardsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative analysis of methods for mapping groundwater pollution hazard: application to the Gallocanta Hydrogeologic Unit (Spain)

Orellana-Macías

Roselló

2020

BAGE

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Anthropogenic activities are the main sources of groundwater pollution. In order to prevent groundwater degradation and to apply suitable mitigation measures, hazard maps are a useful instrument for decision makers. The ultimate goal of the research is to analyse the effectiveness of several groundwater hazard indexes at the Gallocanta Lagoon Basin. To do so, the Hazard Index, the Danger of Contamination Index and the Pollutant Origin and its Surcharge Hydraulically method were applied and compare, and the potentialities and weaknesses of the resulting maps have been analysed. Accurate hazard maps were obtained and, based on their methodological approach, significant differences were found in relation to the rating process, the inventory of the sources, and the treatment of quantity and likelihood. In the light of the results, the indexes tended to undervalue the hazard level of agricultural activities, which were the main sources of pollution of the study area. Therefore, due to the characteristic land uses of the study area, typical of the Mediterranean context, some proposals to improve the indexes have been suggested.

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“…From an environmental perspective, surface and groundwater pollution caused by anthropogenic activities is one of the most common issues across the world [1][2][3]. In the past fifty years, the expansion of human activities, such as urbanization, industry and agriculture, has increased the pressure over water resources, and the consequences may endanger water quality both for human and natural uses [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Methodology for Assessing Groundwater Pollution Hazard by Nitrates from Agricultural Sources: Application to the Gallocanta Groundwater Basin (Spain)

2021

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Groundwater pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources is a common environmental issue. In order to support risk analysis, hazard maps are used to classify land uses according to their potential of pollution. The aim of this study is to propose a new hazard index based on nitrogen input and its connection with nitrate concentration in groundwater. The effectiveness of the Nitrogen Input Hazard Index was tested in the Gallocanta Groundwater Basin (Spain), a highly polluted area, declared as a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone. Agricultural data at a plot scale were used to estimate the nitrogen fertilizer requirement of each crop, and the correlation between nitrogen input and nitrate concentration in groundwater was explored. The resulting hazard map allows us to delimit the most hazardous areas, which can be used to implement more accurate nitrate pollution control programs. The index was proven to successfully estimate nitrogen input influence over groundwater nitrate concentration, and to be able to create hazard maps. The criterion used to create categories was empirically based on nitrate concentration thresholds established by the EU Nitrate Directive. The Nitrogen Input Hazard Index may be a useful tool to support risk analyses of agricultural activities in vulnerable areas, where nitrate pollution could endanger human water supply.

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The evaluation and prediction of agriculture-related nitrate contamination in groundwater in Chengdu Plain, southwestern China

Cited by 42 publications

References 29 publications

An Integrated Framework to Assess the Environmental and Economic Impact of Fertilizer Restrictions in a Nitrate-Contaminated Aquifer

An Integrated Framework to Assess the Environmental and Economic Impact of Fertilizer Restrictions in a Nitrate-Contaminated Aquifer

A comparative analysis of methods for mapping groundwater pollution hazard: application to the Gallocanta Hydrogeologic Unit (Spain)

A Methodology for Assessing Groundwater Pollution Hazard by Nitrates from Agricultural Sources: Application to the Gallocanta Groundwater Basin (Spain)

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