Peer-to-peer exchange in western Ukraine focuses on agricultural nutrient pollution in Tisza River Basin
By Nathan Johnson
Improper usage and over-utilisation of chemical fertilisers results in a wide range of environmental problems, such as soil pollution, high nitrate concentrations in food products, and high nutrient loads into neighbouring and connected water systems. One of the key challenges in agriculture is to achieve maximum soil fertility with a minimum of environmental damage, and to make sure that good agricultural practices are in place to be carried out consistently and over the long-term.
Wholesale change
Agricultural reform carried out in Ukraine from 1999-2001 resulted in monumental changes, the most significant of which was the breaking up of 140 collective farms into an estimated 140,000 much smaller, independently operated farms. This signalled a shift away from some of the more impractical and environmentally unsound practices carried out under the Soviet Union's 'command economy', but has also led to widely inconsistent farming practices, due partly to differences in resources and access to equipment, and also because of the difficulty of disseminating information and knowledge required for best practices on a reliably consistent and widespread level.
Peter Whalley from the Living Water Exchange, in his opening remarks during the first day's plenary session, stated that there are now, globally, some 500 million farmers working on two hectares or less of land, and stressed the importance of hearing stories of local practices, of "how things are applied in your region."
In order to help illustrate the problems at hand from a regional point of view, Whalley explained the impact of nutrient pollution on the Black Sea. Nutrient influx from major rivers, including the Danube and Dniestr (which are themselves fed from many other rivers, including the Tisza), has resulted in severe eutrophication in parts of the Black Sea, most notably at and near the river mouths. Eutrophication depletes the water of oxygen, which has severe impacts on plant and animal life in affected areas. The gravity of the problem in recent years is made clear by the documented rise in episodes of coastal hypoxia (reduced dissolved oxygen content in a body of water) at points along the Black Sea shoreline. There were 60 reported cases of hypoxia worldwide in 1969; the number climbed to 275 in 1989, and rose to above 500 during the 1990s. And these are likely gross underestimates, Whalley suggests. The overall effect is to undermine the resilience of these marine and coastal ecosystems, affecting in turn their ability to support coastal livelihoods such as fishing and tourism.
To illustrate the problem of coastal hypoxia on a global scale, Whalley showed comparative graphics from the 1960s and the 1990s, clearly demonstrating that the areas affected are growing in number and intensity. (Areas where the problem is most acute are Japan, Northern Europe, and the United States' Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts.) Such examples can help us to understand the transboundary nature of many types of pollution, and this is made abundantly clear in the case of river pollution.
In an attempt to prevent destructive modes of economic development, the GEF has invested roughly USD 100 million in the Danube-Black Sea region. On one hand, effective policy has to be implemented in 'upstream' countries to limit the amount of damage eventually caused elsewhere. On the other hand, countries further downstream are presently ill equipped to monitor water pollution effectively, and are not suitably trained and informed about ways to reduce their own contribution to the problem.
According to Whalley, some of the main challenges in tackling nitrate pollution from agricultural practices in Zakarpattya Oblast - and in this case, Irshava Rayon - include: lack of baseline data, difficulty in balancing economic development and pollution reduction efforts, local actors not understanding the costs involved, and a general tendency of resistance to innovation.
Mariya Skobley, addressing conference delegates on behalf of the Zakarpattya Ecological Inspection, talked about some of the local challenges in effectively monitoring water pollution, emphasising that most of the problems are financial. Skobley said that of the Oblast's 20 water treatment facilities, six are nearly useless. Furthermore, there is just one laboratory facility in Zakarpattya that is accredited for organic analysis.
The city of Uzhgorod's current water-treatment capacity is roughly 60 percent of what it should be, said Skobley. The general approach for the time being is not to upgrade the quality of treatment currently taking place, but to increase the percentage of water treated. Meanwhile, there is a development initiative in place in Zakarpattya Oblast, one purpose of which is to ban new construction of polluting facilities without treatment capacity, according to Skobley.
Linked activities
Diana Heilmann from the ICDPR spoke about her organisation's cooperative wide-scale efforts with UNDP/GEF to address water management issues in the Tisza River Basin. A memorandum of understanding toward an integrated approach between the five Tisza countries was signed in 2004, and by the end of 2007, the ICPDR Tisza Group had produced a detailed analysis report, which resulted in the very recent development of the Tisza River Basin Management Plan.
Heilmann listed several serious water-related problems affecting the Tisza River Basin - in addition to nutrient pollution - such as organic pollution, hazardous substances pollution, hydro-morphological alterations, and pressures due to extreme water-quality fluctuations brought on by floods, drought, climate change and other phenomena.
Regarding nutrient pollution, Heilmann explained that the ICPDR's goal is to achieve balanced management of nutrient emission via point- and diffuse sources over the total area of the Tisza River Basin, so that the waters in the basin itself, along with those of the Danube River Basin and the Black Sea (through contact with the Tisza) are free from threats and impacts of eutrophication.
In order to move towards this goal, a number of measures and objectives are in place (with 2015 as the target year) that apply to EU member states and non-member states alike, such as: reducing the total amount of nutrients entering the Tisza and its tributaries to levels consistent with the achievement of 'good' ecological/chemical status; reducing discharged nutrient loads in the Black Sea Basin to levels permitting Black Sea ecosystems to recover to conditions observed in the 1960s; reducing phosphates in detergents; implementing management objectives described for organic pollution, with additional focus on reducing nutrient point-source emissions; implementing best environmental practices in agriculture to reduce non-point source nutrient pollution; and, defining basin-wide, sub-basin and/or national quantitative reduction targets.
There are, in addition, additional requirements that EU member states must fulfil towards achieving management plan objectives. Perfect results will likely prove elusive, Heilmann concluded: "Total nitrogen reduction goals for the Tisza Basin will probably not be met, as various scenarios point to a strong potential for an increase of total nitrogen emissions."
On the other hand, a phosphate ban for detergent products could go far towards achieving phosphorous reduction goals, Heilmann added. "This is a relatively cost-effective and easy-to-implement measure, and could be one of the first solutions realised," she said. "Of course, it will be necessary to implement other measures, and especially to improve wastewater treatment capacity."
A 'systems' approach
"Good soil is critical to good growth, but good practice involves limiting soil nutrient loss from getting good growth," argues Tom Simpson, executive director of US-based Water Stewardship, Inc. In tackling the problem of agricultural nutrient pollution, Simpson advocates a 'systems-based' approach, which is essentially the opposite of an 'all eggs in one basket' approach. In focusing attention on several areas of concern, a systems-based approach can be successful in one or several areas, even if other areas yield disappointing results.
Simpson demonstrated one example of such an approach, broken down in to four steps: 1) develop a water-quality protection programme for the entire catchment system in question; 2) make sure that the plan identifies best-management practices (BMPs) and matches them with key information points; 3) ensure that the plan is time-based and cost-effective; and, 4) operate and maintain the programme over the long-term. Also important, Simpson added, is to have specific goals and targets in mind, rather than vague injunctions to 'improve'.
A plan can also be viewed in a cyclical way, Simpson explained: assess the problem, design a plan to solve the problem(s), implement the plan, monitor progress along the way, evaluate results, and make adjustments as needed. Too little attention is paid to some or many of these steps, Simpson said, and there is too often a tendency to make 'adjustments' to plans or programmes without having carried out sufficient levels of evaluation, monitoring, or even implementation.
Finally, the Water Stewardship director provided one graphic example of how the drive for maximum crop yield can create unnecessarily high levels of nutrient pollution. One line plotted on a graph showed how the application of fertilisers increases crop yield significantly, but only up to a point, after which the line rises slightly before flattening; another line shows nitrate loss depending on fertiliser application. There is point just beyond maximum crop yield at which nitrate loss spikes sharply. Simpson then traced three successive vertical lines indicating an 'ecological optimum', the 'recommended' level of fertiliser application (as practiced typically in the United States), and actual 'practice'. In other words the graph clearly demonstrates that the slight increase in crop yield obtained at the 'practice' level comes at significant environmental cost in terms of much greater nutrient loss. Thus, over the long term, farmers should be applying fertilisers at the 'ecological optimum', and not at what are typically recommended or even higher levels.
The day-one plenary session continued with more presentations, and concluded with a spirited Q&A session, with participants sharing local experiences and discussing at length some of the key issues. Much of the following discussion concerned methods of irrigation and the phosphorous-related hazards resulting from overuse of manure fertilisers.
Getting out of doors
Participants boarded a chartered bus on day two of the event for an opportunity to visit project pilot sites in the villages of Siltse and Batar. With local elections looming, the Siltse community cultural centre was closed for voter registration, so a welcome lunch, hosted by Irshava regional administrative authorities, and discussion took place in a hall above a nearby cafe. General tasks and project goals were presented by Vasyl Manivchuk, and other speakers addressed such topics as: nutrient reduction in soils, fertility mapping and advice for farmers, the importance of establishing riparian zones, and obtaining and using nitrate-measuring devices.
What followed was a description of the Ukraine pilot project's main achievements. First, a riparian protective zone was established along the Irshava River by means of planting 750 plumb trees, making it the longest such 'alley' in Zakarpattya Oblast, at some 6 kilometres in length. Second, nitrate measuring devices were obtained for village councils, and a sanitary-epidemiological service was placed in charge quality control of agricultural products, having been trained in the proper use of measuring devices. Third, organic fertilisers were introduced in Zakarpattya through a vermiculture programme. Fourth, a 'Strategy of Nutrient Reduction' was developed for the villages of Siltse and Zarichya, which includes chemical analysis of water in rivers and soils, relevant maps detailing soil pollution and soil fertility, and specific recommendations on fertiliser to be used in certain conditions. Finally, a high-profile public-awareness campaign was carried out, which included a drawing competition for children, a 'find the fruit grown with fewest fertilisers' competition, joint tree-planting activities, and more.
After the project presentation, the group then got to see for itself a section of the riparian zone created under the pilot project. Plum trees had been planted near the river bank, and team member showed where flood barriers had been constructed at other points. The project campaign's public awareness-raising poster was also on display on the wall of the cultural centre.
Deserving of special thanks is Pilot Project Manager Olena Marushevska for her indefatigable energy in helping to organise, translate and assist with all facets of this important and memorable learning and social experience.
