Towards the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive?: Lessons learned from water quality simulations in an agricultural watershed

Abstract The main objective of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is the achievement of a good ecological and chemical status of the water environment (water bodies). This status corresponds to the limit value of Germany's Working Group of the Federal States on Water Problems Issues (LAWA) for water quality class II (3 mg/l total nitrogen). The rivers in the intensively cropped Upper Ems River basin (northwestern Germany) show total nitrogen concentrations in excess of 5–10 mg/l. Hence, the objective of our study was to find a land use and land management scenario that would reduce the total nitrogen concentration to meet the WFD requirements for good ecological and chemical status. We developed consecutive land use and management scenarios on the basis of policy instruments such as the support of agro-environmental measures by Common Agricultural Policy and regional landscape development programs. The model simulations were done by using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Results of SWAT scenario calculations showed that drastic measures, which are unrealistic from a socio-economic point of view, would be needed to achieve the water quality target in the basin (reduction of arable land from 77.2% to 46% [13% organic farming], increase of pasture from 4% to 15%, afforestation from 10% to 21%, increase of protected wetlands from 0% to 9%, etc.). The example shows additionally that the achievement of the WFD targets is only possible with a consideration of regional landscape and land use distinctions. A related problem yet to be addressed is the general lack of measured water quality data with which to calibrate and validate water quality models such as SWAT. This adds considerable uncertainty to already complicated and uncertainty situations. Thus, improved strategies for water quality monitoring, and data accessibility must be established.

[1]  Valentina Krysanova,et al.  Assessment of nitrogen leaching from arable land in large river basins Part I. Simulation experiments using a process-based model , 2002 .

[2]  John R. Williams,et al.  LARGE AREA HYDROLOGIC MODELING AND ASSESSMENT PART I: MODEL DEVELOPMENT 1 , 1998 .

[3]  A. Tappin,et al.  European land-based pollutant loads to the North Sea: an analysis of the Paris Commission data and review of monitoring strategies , 1997 .

[4]  Soroosh Sorooshian,et al.  Status of Automatic Calibration for Hydrologic Models: Comparison with Multilevel Expert Calibration , 1999 .

[5]  Kurt Berlo,et al.  Kurzgutachten für das Bundesministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz (BMELV) zur Bewertung einer möglichen Veränderung der Stromtarifstruktur für Haushaltskunden ("Stromspartarif") , 2008 .

[6]  J. Arnold,et al.  SWAT2000: current capabilities and research opportunities in applied watershed modelling , 2005 .

[7]  K. Isermann,et al.  Share of agriculture in nitrogen and phosphorus emissions into the surface waters of Western Europe against the background of their eutrophication , 1990, Fertilizer research.

[8]  P. Pekárová,et al.  Retrieval of suspended particulate matter concentrations in the Danube River from Landsat ETM data. , 2008, The Science of the total environment.

[9]  A. Bronstert,et al.  Assessing the impact of changes in landuse and management practices on the diffuse pollution and retention of nitrate in a riparian floodplain. , 2008, The Science of the total environment.

[10]  Hans-Georg Frede,et al.  SWAT-G, a version of SWAT99.2 modified for application to low mountain range catchments , 2002 .

[11]  J. Arnold,et al.  Predicting Water, Sediment and NO3-N Loads under Scenarios of Land-use and Management Practices in a Flat Watershed , 2004 .

[12]  J. Refsgaard.  Parameterisation, calibration and validation of distributed hydrological models , 1997 .

[13]  Jeffrey G. Arnold,et al.  The Soil and Water Assessment Tool: Historical Development, Applications, and Future Research Directions , 2007 .

[14]  Ilona Bärlund,et al.  Assessing SWAT model performance in the evaluation of management actions for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in a Finnish catchment , 2007, Environ. Model. Softw..

[15]  Francisco J. Rueda,et al.  Implementing river water quality modelling issues in mesoscale watershed models for water policy demands??an overview on current concepts, deficits, and future tasks , 2004 .

[16]  K. Kersebaum,et al.  Modelling scenarios to assess the effects of different agricultural management and land use options to reduce diffuse nitrogen pollution into the river Elbe , 2003 .

[17]  Sudhindra N. Panda,et al.  Modelling of an Agricultural Watershed using Remote Sensing and a Geographic Information System , 2005 .

[18]  Willy Bauwens,et al.  Multiobjective autocalibration for semidistributed water quality models , 2003 .

[19]  Peter Strauss,et al.  AgriBMPWater: systems approach to environmentally acceptable farming , 2005, Environ. Model. Softw..

[20]  Ralf Kunkel,et al.  Model based impact analysis of policy options aiming at reducing diffuse pollution by agriculture--a case study for the river Ems and a sub-catchment of the Rhine , 2005, Environ. Model. Softw..

[21]  Martin Volk,et al.  Landscape Balance and Landscape Assessment , 2001 .

[22]  Narendra Singh Raghuwanshi,et al.  Development of effective management plan for critical subwatersheds using SWAT model , 2005 .

[23]  Warnfried Dettling.  Perspektiven für Deutschland , 1994 .

[24]  Jeffrey G. Arnold,et al.  APPLICATION OF SWAT FOR THE UPPER NORTH BOSQUE RIVER WATERSHED , 2000 .

[25]  Branislav Vrana,et al.  A "toolbox" for biological and chemical monitoring requirements for the European Union's Water Framework Directive. , 2006, Talanta.

[26]  Raghavan Srinivasan,et al.  A GIS‐Coupled Hydrological Model System for the Watershed Assessment of Agricultural Nonpoint and Point Sources of Pollution , 2004, Trans. GIS.

[27]  J. Bakkes,et al.  Scenario development to explore the future of Europe's rural areas , 2006 .

[28]  J. Arnold,et al.  VALIDATION OF THE SWAT MODEL ON A LARGE RWER BASIN WITH POINT AND NONPOINT SOURCES 1 , 2001 .

[29]  J. Nash,et al.  River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I — A discussion of principles☆ , 1970 .

[30]  J. Eilers,et al.  WATER QUALITY MODELING OF ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURAL SCENARIOS IN THE U.S. CORN BELT 1 , 2002 .

[31]  Santanu Kumar Behera,et al.  Evaluation of management alternatives for an agricultural watershed in a sub-humid subtropical region using a physical process based model , 2006 .

[32]  Gerald Busch,et al.  Future European agricultural landscapes—What can we learn from existing quantitative land use scenario studies? , 2006 .

[33]  K. Eckhardt,et al.  Parameter uncertainty and the significance of simulated land use change effects , 2003 .

[34]  M. Arabi,et al.  Representation of agricultural conservation practices with SWAT , 2008 .

[35]  V. Krysanova,et al.  Development and test of a spatially distributed hydrological/water quality model for mesoscale watersheds , 1998 .

[36]  R. Young,et al.  AGNPS: A nonpoint-source pollution model for evaluating agricultural watersheds , 1989 .

[37]  Raghavan Srinivasan,et al.  A modeling approach to evaluate the impacts of water quality management plans implemented in a watershed in Texas , 2006, Environ. Model. Softw..

[38]  Martin Volk,et al.  Integrated ecological-economic modelling of water pollution abatement management options in the Upper Ems River Basin , 2008 .

[39]  Walter A.H. Rossing,et al.  Integrative modelling approaches for analysis of impact of multifunctional agriculture: A review for France, Germany and The Netherlands , 2007 .