Cost-effective mitigation of diffuse pollution: Setting criteria for river basin management at multiple locations

Hutchins, Mike, Fezzi, Carlo, Bateman, Ian, Posen, Paulette and Deflandre-Vlandas, Amelie (2009) Cost-effective mitigation of diffuse pollution: Setting criteria for river basin management at multiple locations. Environmental Management, 44 (2). pp. 256-267.

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Abstract

A case study of the Yorkshire Derwent (UK) catchment is used to illustrate an integrated approach for assessing the viability of policy options for reducing diffuse nitrate losses to waterbodies. For a range of options, modeling methods for simulating river nitrate levels are combined with techniques for estimating the economic costs to agriculture of modifying those levels. By incorporating spatially explicit data and information on catchment residence times (which may span many decades particularly in areas of groundwater discharge) a method is developed for efficient spatial targeting of measures, for example, to the most at-risk freshwater environments. Combining hydrological and economic findings, the analysis reveals that, in terms of cost-effectiveness, the ranking of options is highly sensitive to both (i) whether or not specific stretches of river within a catchment are regarded as a priority for protection, and (ii) the criterion of nitrate concentration deemed most appropriate as an indicator of the health of the environment. Therefore, given the focus under European legislation upon ecological status of freshwaters, these conclusions highlight the need to improve understanding of mechanistic linkages between the chemical and biological dynamics of aquatic systems.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 6 - clean water and sanitation ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/clean_water_and_sanitation
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Resources, Sustainability and Governance (former - to 2018) Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Rosie Cullington
Date Deposited:	23 Feb 2011 10:01
Last Modified:	22 Apr 2023 00:45
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/24370
DOI:	10.1007/s00267-009-9306-8

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