Managing nitrogen to restore water quality in China

ChaoQing Yu (), Xiao Huang, Han Chen, H. Charles J. Godfray, Jonathon S. Wright, Jim W. Hall, Peng Gong, ShaoQiang Ni, ShengChao Qiao, GuoRui Huang, YuChen Xiao, Jie Zhang, Zhao Feng, XiaoTang Ju, Philippe Ciais, Nils Chr. Stenseth, Dag O. Hessen, Zhanli Sun, Le Yu, WenJia Cai, HaoHuan Fu, XiaoMeng Huang, Chi Zhang, HongBin Liu and James Taylor
Additional contact information
ChaoQing Yu: Tsinghua University
Xiao Huang: Tsinghua University
Han Chen: Tsinghua University
H. Charles J. Godfray: University of Oxford
Jonathon S. Wright: Tsinghua University
Jim W. Hall: University of Oxford
Peng Gong: Tsinghua University
ShaoQiang Ni: Tsinghua University
ShengChao Qiao: Tsinghua University
GuoRui Huang: Tsinghua University
YuChen Xiao: Tsinghua University
Jie Zhang: Tsinghua University
Zhao Feng: Tsinghua University
XiaoTang Ju: China Agricultural University
Philippe Ciais: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE)
Nils Chr. Stenseth: Tsinghua University
Dag O. Hessen: University of Oslo
Le Yu: Tsinghua University
WenJia Cai: Tsinghua University
HaoHuan Fu: Tsinghua University
XiaoMeng Huang: Tsinghua University
Chi Zhang: Royal Institute of Technology
HongBin Liu: Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
James Taylor: Newcastle University

Nature, 2019, vol. 567, issue 7749, 516-520

Abstract: Abstract The nitrogen cycle has been radically changed by human activities1. China consumes nearly one third of the world’s nitrogen fertilizers. The excessive application of fertilizers2,3 and increased nitrogen discharge from livestock, domestic and industrial sources have resulted in pervasive water pollution. Quantifying a nitrogen ‘boundary’4 in heterogeneous environments is important for the effective management of local water quality. Here we use a combination of water-quality observations and simulated nitrogen discharge from agricultural and other sources to estimate spatial patterns of nitrogen discharge into water bodies across China from 1955 to 2014. We find that the critical surface-water quality standard (1.0 milligrams of nitrogen per litre) was being exceeded in most provinces by the mid-1980s, and that current rates of anthropogenic nitrogen discharge (14.5 ± 3.1 megatonnes of nitrogen per year) to fresh water are about 2.7 times the estimated ‘safe’ nitrogen discharge threshold (5.2 ± 0.7 megatonnes of nitrogen per year). Current efforts to reduce pollution through wastewater treatment and by improving cropland nitrogen management can partially remedy this situation. Domestic wastewater treatment has helped to reduce net discharge by 0.7 ± 0.1 megatonnes in 2014, but at high monetary and energy costs. Improved cropland nitrogen management could remove another 2.3 ± 0.3 megatonnes of nitrogen per year—about 25 per cent of the excess discharge to fresh water. Successfully restoring a clean water environment in China will further require transformational changes to boost the national nutrient recycling rate from its current average of 36 per cent to about 87 per cent, which is a level typical of traditional Chinese agriculture. Although ambitious, such a high level of nitrogen recycling is technologically achievable at an estimated capital cost of approximately 100 billion US dollars and operating costs of 18–29 billion US dollars per year, and could provide co-benefits such as recycled wastewater for crop irrigation and improved environmental quality and ecosystem services.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1001-1

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