AGRICULTURAL NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

Agricultural Nutrient Management and Water Quality in Ontario

Agricultural nutrient management and water quality in Ontario

The tragic water contamination in Walkerton (Ontario) in 2000 is causing the current thinking that the watershed management is about managing human activities that affect the natural resources on management of these resources. The commissioner of the inquiry into the contaminated water in Walkerton, Dennis O'Connor, acknowledged that the protection of sources of water supply is mainly an exercise in planning land use. In Ontario, land use may be directed and coordinated by the offices of nature protection, but it is the responsibility of municipalities, and they must fully participate in source protection of water supplies (Xiang, 2006).

Offices of Conservation Ontario have existed for over 70 years, and their mandate is to manage natural resources within ecological watershed. Their activities are now more diverse and include planning for watershed management, environmental awareness, and commitment to the community level, recreational activities and groundwater monitoring. In addition, the Offices of conservation work on various projects related to watersheds with their constituent municipalities (Xiang, 2006).

The Ontario government has recently adopted the Law on the management of nutrients, the 2002 Law on Safe Drinking Water Act of 2002 and the sustainability of water systems and sewer to confer the power to monitor many of the recommendations in Parts I and II of the Report of the Walkerton Inquiry. As part of the strategy on the water quality of the Government of Ontario Act, the Nutrient Management establishes provincial standards for application of materials containing nutrients to plants at the soil and a way that respects the environment. Under this Act, the provincial GOVERNMENT has the power to regulate nutrient management and to establish standards for the latter. By definition, the term "nutrient" includes fertilizer, organic matter, biosolids, compost, manure, sludge, sludge from pulp and paper and other products used to stimulate crop growth(Atkinson, 2010). The 2002 Law on Safe Drinking Water provides for the protection of human health and accident prevention of contamination of drinking water through the regulatory and monitoring systems drinking water and analysis of water quality. Regulations made under this Act refer to quality standards of drinking water in Ontario. The 2002 Law on the sustainability of water systems and sewage requires municipalities to assess and recover the costs of water services and sewer. In this paper we focus on Nutrient Management and Water Quality in Ontario.

Nutrient Management and Water Quality

Nutrients are chemical substances that help plants grow. The term generally refers to nutrient products used by farmers in their fields, including natural fertilizers and chemical fertilizers. When these products are applied properly and when it is necessary nutrients ensures optimum performance cultures. That said, the inappropriate use of these elements can have adverse consequences. For example, problems related to water quality may occur locally or downstream areas initially affected. The purpose of nutrient management is to use these elements (especially nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) in an appropriate manner to allow both optimal benefit and minimal impact on the environment (Atkinson, 2010).

The Committee on Nutrient Management has undertaken research on strategies for nutrient management adopted in ...