FE477 Management of Runoff Waters from Arable Land Final
Report of the EU/LIFE Project (LIFE 97 ENV/FIN/335)
Markku Puustinen, 2001.
The Finnish Environment 477, International cooperation , 56 p.
URN:ISBN:9521117990. ISBN 952-11-1799-0 (PDF).
The publication is available also in printed form ISBN 952-11-0892-4.
Abstract
Reducing the diffuse eutrophication-promoting nutrients load that agriculture places on the aquatic environment requires knowledge of the effects of treatment methods for runoff water from farmland, processing this information to meet a
variety of planning-related and practical needs as well as constant implementation of measures to protect water bodies. Numerous economic and environment-related aspects must be taken into consideration in planning environmental protection in the
agricultural sector. Also farmers need more information on the effects of these measures before they can arrive at their own decisions. Good cooperation between all parties involved in the production, processing and use of information is an a priori
condition for environmental measures being carried out on farms.
Life VIHTA-project was financed out of the EU Life (Environment) Fund. Life VIHTA comprised four sub-projects: Constructed Wetlands VESIKOT (markku.puustinen@ymparisto.fi), Management of Runoff Waters from Acid Sulphate Soils HAPSU2
(sirpa.joukainen@ymparisto.fi), Decision-support System for Environmental Protection in Agriculture PÄÄTÖS (sirkka.tattari@ymparisto.fi) and Methods for Extension and Dissemination of Information NETTI (helena.valve@ymparisto.fi).
The results of the sub-projects were availed of in the development of the VIHTA model. This contains data on the effects and costs of wetlands, sedimentation ponds, riparian buffer zones and controlled drainage. The method comparisons made using the
model show that it pays to begin with buffer zones and wetlands when attempting to treat runoff waters from arable land. This is the best way to derive the greatest benefits from environmental investments. As measures gradually advance, controlled
drainage enters the picture as a useful method. However, a very important point that needs to be understood is that the implementability of treatment methods for runoff waters depends on the characteristics of the catchment in question.
More information
The homepage of the project "Management of the Runoff Waters from Arable Land".
Markku Puustinen, Finnish Environment Institute, Phone +358 9 403 000,
firstname.surname@ymparisto.fi
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