Understanding the Impact of a Major Hydro-Agricultural Project in Low Mondego Area (Portugal)

Maria Cunha, João Marques, José Azevedo and Ana Castilho
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Maria Cunha: INESC Coimbra, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Coimbra, Polo 2, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
João Marques: INESC Coimbra, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Coimbra, Polo 2, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
José Azevedo: Department of Earth Sciences, CGEO, University of Coimbra, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal
Ana Castilho: Department of Earth Sciences, CGEO, University of Coimbra, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-28

Abstract: The Low Mondego ( Baixo Mondego , in Portuguese) river basin has been considerably modified by human interventions to prevent floods and to improve agricultural conditions over recent decades. This work analyzes the main impacts arising from those interventions and the socio-economic context in which they occurred. The development and application of a framework to compute the variation of the nitrogen surplus between 1986 and 2018 in the Low Mondego watershed in the central part Portugal is presented. The nitrogen mass balances take into consideration different land use types, inputs and outputs, thereby making it possible to understand how human interventions have impacted the variation of the surplus. It is noticeable that the major nitrogen sources are related to the agricultural sector. However, factors such as the implementation of the Code of Good Agricultural Practices, as well as social conditions, and regulations to reduce nitrogen emissions to the atmosphere helped to cut the nitrogen surplus. This work shows how improving the agricultural conditions has served to increase the crop productivity in improved areas. Very particular social circumstances led to the reduction in anthropogenic nitrogen sources, which has been accompanied by a decline in the nitrogen that is exported at the river outlet.

Keywords: nitrogen mass balances; impacts of anthropogenic sources; improvement of crop productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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