Nutrient inputs into the Gulf of Finland: Trends and water protection targets

Knuuttila, Seppo; Räike, Antti; Ekholm, Petri; Kondratyev, Sergey

doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2016.09.008

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Unlike in some other Baltic Sea countries, e.g. Russia, further declines in riverine nutrient export can still be achieved through modernisation of WWTPs (Knuuttila et al 2017), but in Finland it is presently not possible to substantially increase nutrient removal from point sources. Therefore, the main question remains how to reduce diffuse loads, especially those originating from agriculture.…”

Section: Driving Forces Behind the Changesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Nutrient export from Finnish rivers into the Baltic Sea has not decreased despite water protection measures

Räike

Taskinen

Knuuttila

2019

Ambio

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To tackle the symptoms of eutrophication in the open Baltic Sea and Finnish coastal waters, Finland has agreed to reduce both total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) inputs. Due to large investments in treatment of municipal and industrial wastewaters, TP loads started to decrease already in the mid-1970s and the respective TN loads in the mid-1990s. During the last two decades, much effort has been spent in decreasing the load originating from diffuse sources. Trend analyses in 1995-2016 showed that, despite various mitigation measures, riverine nutrient export has not substantially decreased, and especially the export from rivers draining agricultural lands remains high. In some areas TN concentrations and export were increasing and we found evidence that it was linked to ditching of peatlands. Several factors connected to climate/weather (e.g. temperature and precipitation) have counteracted the mitigation measures, and therefore Finland will not achieve the nutrient reduction targets by 2021.

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Section: Driving Forces Behind the Changesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Nutrient export from Finnish rivers into the Baltic Sea has not decreased despite water protection measures

Räike

Taskinen

Knuuttila

2019

Ambio

Self Cite

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“…Actions aimed at improving surface water quality should consider floodplain reservoirs as an important diffuse nutrient source. This is vital as Poland and other EU countries, despite various water protection measures: Good agricultural practices, erosion reduction, improvement of sewage quality, reduction of detergent usage, fail to achieve good surface water quality and reduce nutrient loads exported into the Baltic Sea [57][58][59], which was the aim of the European Union's Water Framework Directive [53].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small Floodplain Reservoirs in the Face of Climate Change—Sink or Source of Nutrients?

Gmitrowicz‐Iwan

Ligęza

Pranagal

et al. 2020

Water

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Despite various water protection measures, good water quality and reduction of nutrient loads seem very distant goals, largely due to limited knowledge of processes occurring in river valleys. Our study aimed at establishing the role of small floodplain reservoirs in the eutrophication processes, in the face of recent climate changes. The content of phosphorus and nitrogen compounds was determined in sediments and water of small floodplain reservoirs, (the Vistula River Valley, Poland) using spectrophotometric and Kjeldahl’s method. Nutrient loads in sediments were linked to the texture and total organic carbon content. Seasonal changes in water quality were strictly connected to changing weather conditions, flood and drought. The concentrations of PO43− and NO3− were found to rise after summer flooding. Increases in NH4+, total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) were correlated with the surface water area reduction in the reservoirs, which during the year of the study was on average 62%. Therefore, small floodplain reservoirs could be considered simultaneously as sinks and sources of nutrients. On the one hand, they accumulate P and N compounds carried by the river during the flood. On the other hand, climate change cause that small floodplain reservoirs may be responsible for enhanced biomass production.

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“…Meeting this objective, as well as that of BSAP, however, has proven difficult, and not all water bodies and coastal waters of BSR will reach good status for the period of 2021–2027 (e.g. Schumacher 2012 ; Knuuttila et al 2017 ; Bohman 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How effective are River Basin Management Plans in reaching the nutrient load reduction targets?

Piniewski

Tattari

Koskiaho

et al. 2020

Ambio

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Riverine nutrient loads are among the major causes of eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. This study applied the Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in three catchments flowing to the Baltic Sea, namely Vantaanjoki (Finland), Fyrisån (Sweden), and Słupia (Poland), to simulate the effectiveness of nutrient control measures included in the EU’s Water Framework Directive River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs). Moreover, we identified similar, coastal, middle-sized catchments to which conclusions from this study could be applicable. The first modelling scenario based on extrapolation of the existing trends affected the modelled nutrient loads by less than 5%. In the second scenario, measures included in RBMPs showed variable effectiveness, ranging from negligible for Słupia to 28% total P load reduction in Vantaanjoki. Adding spatially targeted measures to RBMPs (third scenario) would considerably improve their effectiveness in all three catchments for both total N and P, suggesting a need to adopt targeting more widely in the Baltic Sea countries.

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Nutrient inputs into the Gulf of Finland: Trends and water protection targets

Cited by 12 publications

References 9 publications

Nutrient export from Finnish rivers into the Baltic Sea has not decreased despite water protection measures

Nutrient export from Finnish rivers into the Baltic Sea has not decreased despite water protection measures

Small Floodplain Reservoirs in the Face of Climate Change—Sink or Source of Nutrients?

How effective are River Basin Management Plans in reaching the nutrient load reduction targets?

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