• What are the extents, causes and environmental and socio-economic impacts on downstream water users of diffuse (non-point) agricultural pollution in different developing country contexts?
• What sustainable options exist for the reduction and/or mitigation of diffuse agricultural pollution?

Objectives

The main project objective is to improve understanding of the impacts of diffuse agricultural pollution from large-scale irrigation on the river environment and downstream livelihoods, and identify possible solutions to improve the quality of water resources targeted towards those impacts.

Specific Objectives

• To increase knowledge of the extent and causes of agricultural pollution in two contrasting study sites in developing countries (Egypt and Sri Lanka).
• To improve understanding of the downstream water quality and livelihoods impacts of agricultural pollution.
• To improve local capacity to monitor and assess water quality and diffuse agricultural pollution.
• To increase awareness of the impacts of agricultural pollution amongst stakeholders.
• To identify sustainable options for pollution reduction and/or mitigation.

Methods

• An interdisciplinary approach was employed to address the issues from different perspectives, using:
• Background studies - literature review and institutional assessments to plan and place the fieldwork in context, so that findings could be extrapolated more widely than just the case studies.
• Water quality - routine programme of water quality monitoring in at least 12 locations in each study site covering a wide range of parameters including the main agricultural pollutants (suspended sediments, nutrients, pesticides, metals) which were compared with relevant national and international standards for drinking water, agriculture, fisheries and ambient waters. Water quality studies were supported by analyses for pesticide residues in food fish and other aquatic taxa and in river and tank (water storages) sediments, and by bacteriological sampling.
• Agriculture - review of pertinent policies and practices at national and local levels to evaluate both current pressures on the environment and future trends in pressures, by compilation of secondary data and statistics, key informant interviews, field observations and questionnaire surveys of sample farmers.
• Livelihoods – assessment of the role of water in livelihoods and the impact of deteriorating water quality on downstream uses, by compilation of secondary data, group discussions using a range of PRA techniques, questionnaires on specific issues, and key informant interviews.
• Impacts and mitigation measures - synthesis of findings on impacts and recommendation of appropriate pollution reduction/mitigation options.

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