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The effectiveness of nitrogen and phosphorus load reduction measures from source to sea, considering the effects of climate change

Project description

Reducing nutrient pollution with best practices

Reducing nutrient pollution and water eutrophication is key to maintaining coastal ecosystems. The EU-funded NAPSEA project will support national and local authorities in selecting effective nutrient load reduction measures to limit negative impacts on inland and coastal waters. The project will use an integrated approach that addresses nutrient pollution from its river source to the sea, using the Rhine and Elbe Rivers-North Sea coastal system as a case study. Looking from a governance, nutrient pathway and ecosystem health perspective, NAPSEA will evaluate nutrient reduction scenarios with an integrated modelling framework and define safe ecological boundaries.

Objective

The central aim of the proposed Source to Sea (NAPSEA) CSA is to support national and local authorities in selecting effective nutrient load reduction measures and to gain political support for the implementation. The consortium partners have been closely involved in applied research and implementation of nutrient reduction measures at local, national and European level. In NAPSEA the current challenges to reduce nutrient pollution, eutrophication and its negative impacts on inland and coastal waters and their ecosystem services will be addressed by an integrated approach addressing nutrient pollution from river source to sea, using the Rhine and Elbe Rivers-North Sea coastal system as case study and integrating three complementary perspectives: governance, nutrient pathways & measures, and ecosystem health. Each of these perspectives provide an essential part of the solution to achieving a healthy ecosystem with measures that are societally acceptable and cost-effective. We will identify options to reach a harmonized approach in nutrient reduction measures across different geographical areas and policy frameworks (governance), select and evaluate nutrient reduction scenarios with an integrated modelling framework from source to sea (nutrient pathways) and define safe ecological boundaries for different types of ecosystems along the continuum from catchment to coast (ecosystem health). NAPSEA will showcase the best practices and consider obstacles on the implementation of socially acceptable, sustainable and effective measures for several local case studies within this geographical scope, also taking into account effects of climate change. These case studies accommodate the variability in potential threats of eutrophication as well as feasibility, effectiveness and implementation of potential measures to represent different ecosystem types, with varying eutrophication symptoms, and address different socio-economic and governance scales from local to European level.

Coordinator

STICHTING DELTARES
Net EU contribution
€ 569 153,75
Address
BOUSSINESQWEG 1
2629 HV Delft
Netherlands

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Region
West-Nederland Zuid-Holland Delft en Westland
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 569 153,75

Participants (6)