Reducing surface water pollution through the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of BMPs at different spatial scales

Panagopoulos, Y; Makropoulos, C; Mimikou, M

dc.contributor.author	Panagopoulos, Y	en
dc.contributor.author	Makropoulos, C	en
dc.contributor.author	Mimikou, M	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-01T01:36:42Z
dc.date.available	2014-03-01T01:36:42Z
dc.date.issued	2011	en
dc.identifier.issn	0301-4797	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/21400
dc.subject	BMPs	en
dc.subject	Cost-effectiveness	en
dc.subject	Diffuse pollution	en
dc.subject	SWAT	en
dc.subject	Targeting strategy	en
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Sciences	en
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Studies	en
dc.subject.other	nitrate	en
dc.subject.other	nitrogen	en
dc.subject.other	phosphorus	en
dc.subject.other	surface water	en
dc.subject.other	alfalfa	en
dc.subject.other	baseline conditions	en
dc.subject.other	best management practice	en
dc.subject.other	cost-benefit analysis	en
dc.subject.other	maize	en
dc.subject.other	policy making	en
dc.subject.other	socioeconomic impact	en
dc.subject.other	surface water	en
dc.subject.other	water management	en
dc.subject.other	water pollution	en
dc.subject.other	zero tillage	en
dc.subject.other	agricultural land	en
dc.subject.other	alfalfa	en
dc.subject.other	article	en
dc.subject.other	best management practice	en
dc.subject.other	catchment	en
dc.subject.other	corn	en
dc.subject.other	cost effectiveness analysis	en
dc.subject.other	farming system	en
dc.subject.other	filter	en
dc.subject.other	Greece	en
dc.subject.other	land use	en
dc.subject.other	no tillage	en
dc.subject.other	nonhuman	en
dc.subject.other	pastureland	en
dc.subject.other	sediment	en
dc.subject.other	water management	en
dc.subject.other	water pollution	en
dc.subject.other	Agriculture	en
dc.subject.other	Animals	en
dc.subject.other	Conservation of Natural Resources	en
dc.subject.other	Cost-Benefit Analysis	en
dc.subject.other	Crops, Agricultural	en
dc.subject.other	Decision Making	en
dc.subject.other	Eutrophication	en
dc.subject.other	Fertilizers	en
dc.subject.other	Filtration	en
dc.subject.other	Geologic Sediments	en
dc.subject.other	Greece	en
dc.subject.other	Nitrates	en
dc.subject.other	Nitrogen	en
dc.subject.other	Phosphorus	en
dc.subject.other	Rivers	en
dc.subject.other	Water Pollutants, Chemical	en
dc.subject.other	Water Pollution	en
dc.subject.other	Water Supply	en
dc.subject.other	Arachtos Basin	en
dc.subject.other	Epirus	en
dc.subject.other	Greece	en
dc.subject.other	Animalia	en
dc.subject.other	Medicago sativa	en
dc.subject.other	Zea mays	en
dc.title	Reducing surface water pollution through the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of BMPs at different spatial scales	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.06.035	en
heal.identifier.secondary	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.06.035	en
heal.language	English	en
heal.publicationDate	2011	en
heal.abstract	Two kinds of agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) were examined with respect to cost-effectiveness (CE) in reducing sediment, nitrates-nitrogen (NO3-N) and total phosphorus (TP) losses to surface waters of the Arachtos catchment in Western Greece. The establishment of filter strips at the edge of fields and a non-structural measure, namely fertilization reduction in alfalfa, combined with contour farming and zero-tillage in corn and reduction of animal numbers in pastureland, were evaluated. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was used as the non-point-source (NPS) estimator, while a simple economic component was developed estimating BMP implementation cost as the mean annual expenses needed to undertake and operate the practice for a 5-year period. After each BMP implementation, the ratio of their CE in reducing pollution was calculated for each Hydrologic Response Unit (HRU) separately, for each agricultural land use type entirely and for the whole catchment. The results at the HRU scale are presented comprehensively on a map, demonstrating the spatial differentiation of CE ratios across the catchment that enhances the identification of locations where each BMP is most advisable for implementation. Based on the analysis, a catchment management solution of affordable total cost would include the expensive measure of filter strips in corn and only in a small number of pastureland fields, in combination with the profitable measure of reducing fertilization to alfalfa fields. When examined for its impact on river loads at the outlet, the latter measure led to a 20 tn or 8% annual decrease of TP from the baseline with savings of 15(sic)/kg of pollutant reduction. Filter strips in corn fields reduced annual sediments by 66 Ktn or 5%, NO3-N by 71 tn or 9.5% and TP by 27 tn or 10%, with an additional cost of 3.1 (sic)/tn, 3.3 (sic)/kg and 8.1 (sic)/kg of each pollutant respectively. The study concludes that considerable reductions of several pollutant types at the same time can be achieved, even at low total cost, by combining targeted BMP implementation strategies only in small parts of the catchment, also enabling policy makers to take local socio-economic constraints into consideration. The methodology and the results presented aim to facilitate decision making for a cost-effective management of diffuse pollution by enabling modelers and researchers to make rapid and reliable BMP cost estimations and thus being able to calculate their CE at the local level in order to identify the most suitable areas for their implementation. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.	en
heal.publisher	ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD	en
heal.journalName	Journal of Environmental Management	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.06.035	en
dc.identifier.isi	ISI:000294585900057	en
dc.identifier.volume	92	en
dc.identifier.issue	10	en
dc.identifier.spage	2823	en
dc.identifier.epage	2835	en