The Management Alternatives for Control of Nonpoint Nitrate Pollution of Municipal Water Supply Sources

Zwirnmann, K.-H., Kindler, J., & Golubev, G.N. (1980). The Management Alternatives for Control of Nonpoint Nitrate Pollution of Municipal Water Supply Sources. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-80-051

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Abstract

Regional water management aims at satisfying different supply interests, where these interests are often conflicting. In particular, the competing interests of agriculture, the environment, and municipal water supply, are becoming increasingly important. In this setting of regional water management, nonpoint nitrate pollution of municipal water supply sources is one of the most severe problems. At present, this problem is particularly acute in developed regions with high levels of fertilizer application, but undoubtedly in the future, regions which are now in a developing stage will also face the same problem.

So far, related research at IIASA has been concentrated in Task 3 of the Resources and Environment Area on "Environmental Problems of Agriculture." This work has dealt in particular with agricultural-environmental processes as they are related to crop production and thus has also provided insight into the important role of agriculture in the nitrogen cycle.

Yet another side of the problem remains to be considered, and this is related to water supply and management. This paper therefore proposes a study on management alternatives for control of nonpoint pollution of municipal water supply sources. The study aims at integration of the already initiated studies on "Environmental Problems of Agriculture" with IIASA's water management research. At the same time, due to the role of agriculture in this study, the study will be integrated with IIASA's Food and Agriculture Program investigations. Moreover, because of the need for modeling techniques in analyzing the problem in question, the study will utilize the research results of IIASA's activities on ecological and water quality modeling and the research pursued by the Systems and Decision Sciences Area at IIASA.

Due to the importance of the problem for the majority of IIASA's National Member Organizations an international study involving IIASA and several institutions of different NMO countries is proposed. Therefore, the paper has been written in a specific form and is to be considered a tentative plan for collaboration within and outside IIASA in order to achieve more comprehensive research results. We would therefore like to ask our readers for any comments, remarks, or suggestions that could help to improve the course of our future activities.

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