Accounting for the role of uncertainty in declining water quality in an extensively farmed grassland catchment

Doody, Donnacha G.; Foy, R. H.; Barry, C.

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2012.07.007

Cited by 22 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…There are many examples of where agriculture has had a direct impact on the quality and ecological status of rivers [100,101], lakes [27,102], estuaries [24] and coastal systems [103]. A wide range of on-farm measures are now being recommended to reduce N and P loadings from agriculture to water in order to make potable water safe and to restore or maintain good or high ecological status.…”

Section: Mitigating Nutrient Pressures From Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agriculture and Eutrophication: Where Do We Go from Here?

et al. 2014

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Abstract:The eutrophication of surface waters has become an endemic global problem. Nutrient loadings from agriculture are a major driver, but it remains very unclear what level of on-farm controls are necessary or can be justified to achieve water quality improvements. In this review article, we use the UK as an example of societies' multiple stressors on water quality to explore the uncertainties and challenges in achieving a sustainable balance between useable water resources, diverse aquatic ecosystems and a viable agriculture. Our analysis shows that nutrient loss from agriculture is a challenging issue if farm productivity and profitability is to be maintained and increased. Legacy stores of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in catchments may be sufficient to sustain algal blooms and murky waters for decades to come and more innovation is needed to drawdown and recover these nutrients. Agriculture's impact on eutrophication risk may also be overestimated in many catchments, and more accurate accounting of sources, their bioavailabilities and lag times is needed to direct proportioned mitigation efforts more effectively. Best practice farms may still be leaky and incompatible with good water quality in high-risk areas requiring some prioritization of society goals. All sectors of society must clearly use N and P more efficiently to develop long-term sustainable solutions to this complex issue and nutrient reduction strategies should take account of the whole catchment-to-coast continuum. However, the right balance of local interventions OPEN ACCESS Sustainability 2014, 6 5854 (including additional biophysical controls) will need to be highly site specific and better informed by research that unravels the linkages between sustainable farming practices, patterns of nutrient delivery, biological response and recovery trajectories in different types of waterbodies.

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Section: Mitigating Nutrient Pressures From Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agriculture and Eutrophication: Where Do We Go from Here?

et al. 2014

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“…Finding a balance between use of the precautionary principle and evidence-based policymaking requires a commitment to carry out periodic reviews, such as presented in this paper, and a willingness to revise regulations where necessary. In addition, the use of the precautionary principle requires acknowledgement of, not just the uncertainties related to the scientific evidence and inherent variability in soil-water systems, but also ambiguity in the policy making decision processes related to 'multiple knowledge frames' as to how a system is understood and managed (Doody et al, 2012b;Brugnach et al, 2008). Ultimately the decision as to what is an acceptable level of risk to water quality is a political one that includes not only the available scientific evidence, but also societal and economic factors such as the financial implications for farmers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the evidence-base for the Nitrate Directive regulations controlling the storage of manure in field heaps

Doody

Bailey

Watson

2013

Environmental Science & Policy

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“…The catchment is characterized by low‐intensity farming; nevertheless, a substantial decline in water quality was not averted by mitigation efforts due to limited knowledge regarding farming practices, catchment hydrology, and lake sensitivity (Doody et al . ).…”

Section: Catchment Prioritizationmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…However, despite the widespread implementation of impact‐based prioritization of catchments, demonstrating success has been challenging (Doody et al . ; Page et al . ), as evidenced by the case of Ireland's Lough Melvin catchment.…”

Section: Catchment Prioritizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Doody et al . () demonstrated that rapid runoff in impermeable catchments can lead to large P exports, despite low soil P concentrations; Assess the ability of catchment communities to make the necessary adaptations to achieve the water‐quality target. Adaptive capacity is defined as the precondition that enables adaption to change, including the financial, human, social, natural, and physical capitals that facilitate change (Brown et al .…”

Section: A Framework For Prioritizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Optimizing land use for the delivery of catchment ecosystem services

Doody

Withers

Dils

et al. 2016

Frontiers in Ecol & Environ

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Despite widespread implementation of best management practices, sustainable farming is neither practical nor possible in certain locations, where protecting water quality and promoting agricultural production are likely to be incompatible. Some strategic prioritization of land-use options and acceptance of continually degraded waterbodies may be required to ensure optimization of multiple ecosystem services in catchments (also known as watersheds or drainage basins). We examine approaches to prioritization and propose catchment buffering capacity as a concept to manage the pressure-impact relationship between land use and aquatic ecosystems. Catchment buffering capacity can be considered as a continuum of biogeochemical, hydrological, and ecological catchment properties that define this relationship. Here, we outline a conceptual framework to assist prioritization: (1) establish a water-quality target, (2) quantify the gap in compliance to achieve the desired target, (3) assess catchment sensitivity to change, and (4) determine the adaptive capacity of catchment communities to reach the target.

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Accounting for the role of uncertainty in declining water quality in an extensively farmed grassland catchment

Cited by 22 publications

References 28 publications

Agriculture and Eutrophication: Where Do We Go from Here?

Agriculture and Eutrophication: Where Do We Go from Here?

Evaluating the evidence-base for the Nitrate Directive regulations controlling the storage of manure in field heaps

Optimizing land use for the delivery of catchment ecosystem services

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