1. Agricultural Pollution

2. Agricultural pollution includes--
Manure
Vegetation wastes
Dead animals
Pesticide residue
Sediment
Nutrients from the above
Pathogens

3. The Problem
Agricultural Areas Have the potential to pollute water (surface and groundwater) in many ways
Runoff from farms carries:
Sediment
Nutrients
Pesticides
Fertilizers

4. Livestock Waste
Animal waste (manure and urinary waste) enters streams when livestock wade in water. Animal wastes deposited in waterbodies can accelerate eutrophication and contaminate water used for fishing, swimming, and drinking.

5. Agricultural runoff, including fertilizer and animal wastes, are one of the leading causes of water pollution in the U.S.

6. Manure Definition Conditions Storage (lagoons, etc) Nutrients
Pathogens
Solutions

7. Definition
Manure includes both the feces and the urine of the livestock.
The amount of animal waste produced in the US is 130 times greater than the amount of human waste. There are no federal standards for dealing with this manure.

8. General conditions
Twenty thousand to sixty thousand animals are crammed into small spaces. Many of the pens have slotted floors to allow the droppings to fall through. Conditions are crowded and not very sanitary.

9. Agricultural runoff in modified stream flow

10. Some facts about animal waste
In 1997, the estimated annual US manure production was 1.37 billion tons.
Over five tons of animal manure is produced each year for every person in the US as compared to about eighty pounds of solid human waste.
The manure from a 200-head dairy operation produces as much nitrogen as is present in the sewage from a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people.

11. More facts about animal waste
The annual litter from a typical broiler house of 22,000 birds contains as much phosphorus as is contained in the sewage from a community of 6,000 people.
All types of agricultural land use are considered non-point sources, and therefore are not easily measured or controlled directly.
The EPA, in 1994, identified agriculture as the main cause of the impairment of water quality of rivers and lakes in the US. 65% of surveyed river miles in the US were affected by non-point sources.

13. How is manure dealt with?
There are several storage methods used for dealing with animal waste. These include lagoons, both aerobic and anaerobic, as well as general storage containers.

14. Lagoons
There are two types of lagoons--anaerobic and aerobic. Aerobic are generally larger, though anaerobic lagoons decompose more organic matter per unit volume.
Anaerobic lagoons minimize nitrogen levels
The cost is low and the storage long term
However, odors are present, and the appearance is that of an open pit of waste.
Lagoons must be lined to prevent seepage of waste into ground water.

15. Other methods of waste storage
Above ground waste containers can handle the solid wastes.
Some solid wastes are composted and reused as fertilizer.
The slurry, or liquid waste, is stored in a tank or basin until is is applied to the land as fertilizer.

16. Which type of storage is used where

17. Nutrients
Nitrate and phosphorus are contained in manure. They can leach into the ground water and can also run off into streams, rivers, and lakes. If this happens, something called eutrophication (in this case, cultural eutrophication) occurs.

18. When excess nutrients applied to the land in the form of manure or commercial fertilizer find their way into the water, blooms or overabundant growth of algae and other aquatic plants can re

19. Effects of eutrophication
In still water, an overload of nutrients can cause the growth of algae, duckweed and cyanobacteria. Depletion of oxygen occurs, killing fish and other water dwellers. If the eutrophication is severe enough, anaerobic bacteria can begin to produce gases as products of the decomposition, such as hydrogen sulfide (toxic) and methane (flammable).

20. Deforestation associated with agricultural expansion has left our waters vulnerable to pollution from animal waste and fertilizer.

22. Effects on Life
Excess nitrogen due to agricultural runoff is dangerous to the health of certain groups of people and animals.

23. Effects on human health
Elevated levels of nitrates in drinking water (above 45 milligrams per liter) is a health hazard for infants, pregnant women, and those who have certain enzyme deficiencies. The nitrates interfere with the blood’s ability to carry oxygen, resulting in symptoms such as shortness of breath and a bluish tinge to the skin.

24. Many of America's waters have been rendered unfit for use due to Agricultural Runoff

25. Pathogens Five million people die annually from water-borne diseases.
These diseases include ascariasis, cyrptosporidiosis, giardiasis, and E. coli.
Crops most likely to be involved in the spread of these diseases are ground crops that are eaten raw, such as strawberries, lettuce, and cabbage.

26. Ascariasis
This infection is caused by a worm that lives in the small intestine. Females can grow up to twelve inches.
Pigs can become infected with the worm, and if their feces contaminates food or water, humans can become infected.
Most people show no symptoms, though if a person has a heavy infection, their intestines may become blocked.

27. E. coli
E. coli 0157:H7 is one of hundreds of strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli. Many are normal intestinal flora and do not cause illness, but the strain produces a powerful toxin.
E. coli is spread through the feces of cattle or humans.
Symptoms include severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps, and can lead to kidney failure.

28. Giardiasis
Caused by a single-celled microscopic parasite that lives in the intestines of humans and animals.
Symptoms include diarrhea and upset stomach.
This illness can be spread through the ingestion of contaminated recreational water (swimming pools, hot tubs, lakes).

29. Cryptosporidiosis
Caused by a microscopic parasite that lives in the intestines of humans and animals.
Symptoms include diarrhea and stomach cramps.
This illness is spread by ingesting water or food that has been contaminated by fecal matter.

30. Solutions
Establish a maximum number of animals per hectare based on the amount of manure that can safely be applied per hectare of land.
Anyone wishing to have more that a given number of animals must obtain a license.
Tax surplus manure.

31. Solutions cont.
Change the make-up of the animal feed to contain lower amounts of nutrients and heavy metals.
Establish regulations on how much manure can be held in a storage area.
Limit times which one can apply manure to the ground, and make it mandatory to work it into the ground right away.

32. Solutions
Finding sustainable ways for the agricultural area to reduce both its dependence on pollutants and the amount of pollutants it produces, and to properly recycle or dispose of pollutants before they contaminate soil, water, or air.
Organic farming avoids the use of pesticides and fertilizers
Efficient irrigation can slow salt buildup in soil and drainage water
Avoiding large concentrations of animals can reduce nutrient pollution, and their waste can be used as fertilizer for crops.

33. Channelized Ditches
Channelized waters are usually absent of vegetative buffers and ground cover. Increased sediment load, especially resulting from tilled fields, and pollutant runoff decrease the quality of the water and negatively impact the surrounding habitat.

34. Tillage Cropfields
This practice increases runoff dramatically and the amount of sediment and pollutants from pesticides and herbicides in nearby water sources.
A good alternative is conservation tillage where ground cover after harvest remains on the fields throughout the year.  

35. Crop Rows Along Stream Bank
Crops planted on the edge of streams can create bank erosion and the soil will be pushed into the stream thereby increasing sediment load and decreasing the area of the bank
Area around the stream should be maintained with adequate trees and vegetation along the bank.

36. BUFFER ZONES AND STRIPS
Leaks from improperly stored pesticides can run off to ponds and other surface waters.
A buffer zone protects banks and littoral zones from erosion and from the leaching of nutrients, microbes and pesticides to the water

37. Sedimentation
Definition
Problems associated with it
Solutions

38. Definition of sedimentation
The EPA defines sedimentation as occurring “when wind or water runoff carries soil particles from an area, such as a farm field, and transports them to a water body, such as a stream or lake.”

39. Problems associated with sedimentation
Lots of sedimentation can cause the water to become cloudy, which decreases the amount of sunlight available to aquatic plants.
The dirt particles can obstruct food sources and clog the gills of fish.
Other pollutants, such as heavy metals, are often attached to the soil particles and enter the water along with the sediment.

40. Sediment Pollution
Sediment is the most easily recognized of the nonpoint source pollutants from agricultural pollution

41. Ways to prevent sedimentation
Planting a crop of close growing grasses or small grain. This provides seasonal protection from erosion.
Constructing sediment basins that hold sediment during runoff events.
Strip cropping, or growing plants in strips across the slope to reduce water erosion.
Conservation tillage, which also includes the no-till method.

42. Pesticides
Problems associated with the use of
Solutions

43. Problems with pesticide use
Pesticides, which include herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticides, can contaminate water through direct application, runoff, transportation by the wind, and atmospheric deposition.
They can be deadly to fish and other wildlife, they poison food sources, and they take away the protective cover of plants that make up the habitat of some animals.
Pesticides are also known to cause illness in humans, including types of cancers.

44. Pesticide Pollution
Pesticide spraying eventually leads to runoff to groundwater/ surface water
Contaminates water killing fish and wildlife, as well as reducing the biodiversity

45. Ways to reduce pesticide use
Application of Integrated Pest Management techniques based upon soil type, climate, the history of the specific pest, and the type of crop.
Intercropping, agroforestry, and polyculture can reduce the need for pesticide use. Crops can also be rotated annually.
Hot water can be sprayed on crops in place of pesticides. The cost of this is about equal to the cost of using pesticides.

46. Streamside Forests
Streamside forests counter the effects of some pesticides, and directly provide dissolved and particulate organic food needed to maintain high biological productivity and diversity

47. Aquaculture and its problems
Dense populations of fish and shellfish make eutrophication of the water they live in inevitable.
Aquaculture fish ponds are pretty much “aquatic feedlots” and only last about five years before they are too contaminated to use.
Chemicals used to keep unwanted marine life away from nets and cages can be toxic to other marine animals.

48. More on aquaculture
Wastes from the fish ponds can contaminate nearby water sources such as estuaries as well as ground and surface water.
This waste can kill off some native aquatic species.
A typical salmon farm with 75,000 fish produces as much waste as a city of 20,000 people.

49. Reasons for washing fruit and vegetables before ingestion
Many diseases can be passed to humans via fecal contamination. Fruits and vegetables, before being washed, have been subject to several different pathogens, whether those pathogens were carried in the manure that was sprayed on the crops or from feces deposited by birds flying overhead.
Diseases that can be passed this way include--salmonella, E. coli, giardiasis, ascariasis, shigella, and cryptosporidiosis.
Pesticides are also a common contaminant. Over 13% of vegetables and fruits consumed in the US may contain illegal levels of pesticides.

50. Agriculture at the Bodensee
Problems
Contamination of soil & groundwater by the high use of pesticides & nitrates
Dwarf fruit trees in area require high levels of agricultural chemicals. As a result, pollution of the lake with pesticides, fertilizers, and petroleum waste has grown.

51. Solutions for Bodensee
Encourage community to buy regional organic products
Encourage restaurants and hotels around the lake to offer the whole year dishes made by organic food from the region.
Introduce dishes made by organic food on tourist ships transporting about nine million people each year.

52. Poor Water Quality at The Broads
The Problem
Masses of algae clouded water over the summer and the broads filled up with soft mud. The number of fish species and the age of fish declined, as did the variety of wildfowl.
This condition was caused by the combination of phosphate-rich sewage and nitrogen-rich run-off from arable farming

53. Solutions for The Broads
In order to restore clear water and wildlife to broads which have deteriorated, it is essential to reduce the levels of nutrients in the water.
Phosphate stripping and suction-dredging remove the nutrient-rich mud
Water fleas thrive on eating algae

54. Agricultural Pollution at Nestos Lakes
The Problem
The contamination of lake waters by the runoff of synthetic fertilizers and chemicals has grown with increasing use of agricultural chemicals in nearby areas.
                                

55. Solutions For Nestos Lakes
EPO has adopted a program for restoration and conservation of wild habitats, sustainable agriculture, ecotourism, and community involvement.
                                

56. Water Quality Issues at Uluabat Lake
Pollutants from several sources enter the Emet, Orhaneli and Mustafa Kemalpasa rivers. The main sources are:
waste from mining activities
industrial effluents
sewage effluent
agricultural use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides

57. Problems at Milicz Ponds
Three Main Threats
current levels of water pollution and overall water management
changes in the agricultural sector and the disappearance of meadows
poorly managed growth of the area in general and the tourism industry in particular.
Changes in Agricultural Practices
Meadow reduction has caused a decrease in number of birds that use meadows for breeding
The drainage of wetlands and wet meadows results in a lower quality of feeding and breeding grounds.

58. Lake Tutchewop
Lake Tutchewop was once a favourite holiday resort in the 1930s and 1940s
Now it’s a dead lake, holding over 1 million tons of salt that can not be extracted due to agricultural chemicals including herbicides and pesticides
even the salt resistant brine shrimp cannot survive in it.