Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Revision in Poland—Assessment of Environmental Impact and Land Use Conflicts

Ewa Szalińska, Paulina Orlińska-Woźniak and Paweł Wilk
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Ewa Szalińska: Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow 30-059, Poland
Paulina Orlińska-Woźniak: Section of Modeling Surface Water Quality, Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, 01-673 Warsaw, Poland
Paweł Wilk: Section of Modeling Surface Water Quality, Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, 01-673 Warsaw, Poland

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Despite concerted efforts through the European territory, the problems of nitrogen pollution released from agricultural sources have not been resolved yet. Therefore, infringement cases are still open against a few Member States, including Poland, based on fulfilment problems of commitments regarding the Nitrate Directive. As a result of the litigation process, Poland has completely changed its approach to nitrate vulnerable zones. Instead of just selected areas, the measured actions will be implemented throughout the whole Polish territory. Additionally, further restrictions concerning the fertilizer use calendar will be introduced in areas indicated as extremely cold or hot, based on the average temperature distribution (poles of cold, and heat). Such a change will be of key importance to farmers, whose protests are already audible throughout the country, and can be expected to intensify. To assess the impact of the introduced modifications a modelling approach has been adopted. The use of the Macromodel DNS/SWAT allowed for the development of baseline and variant scenarios incorporating details of stipulated changes in the fertilizer use for a pilot catchment (Słupia River). The results clearly indicate that the new restriction will have a substantial effect on the aquatic environment by altering the amount of released total nitrogen.

Keywords: nitrogen; agriculture; Nitrate Vulnerable Zones; macromodel DNS/SWAT (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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