OECD Studies on Water Water Quality and Agriculture: Meeting the Policy Challenge

Improving water quality is consistently ranked as a top environmental concern in OECD public opinion surveys. The key challenges for policy makers in addressing water quality issues in agriculture are to reduce water pollution while encourage benefits, such as maintaining aquatic life. This book examines linking policies, farm management and water quality. It looks at recent trends and prospects for water pollution from agriculture and the implications of climate change. It assesses the costs and benefits of agriculture’s impact on water systems, and presents a series of case studies. Finally the report provides a set of recommendations for countries for meeting the challenge of improving agricultural water quality.

Table of Content :

Chapter 1. Linking policies, farm management and water quality
-The challenge
-The Polluter-Pays-Principle
-The policy mix and interactions affecting water quality in agriculture
-Farm management practices and hydrological properties and processes
-Challenges in the interaction between farm management practices and water quality
Chapter 2. Agriculture and water quality: Sources, trends, outlook and monitoring
-Sources of water pollution from agriculture
-The contribution of agriculture as a source of water pollution
-Overall trends of the impacts of agriculture on water quality
-Medium-term outlook and implications of climate change
-Issues related to monitoring water quality in agriculture important for policy makers
Chapter 3. Monetary costs and benefits of agricultures impact on water systems
-Key components in measuring the costs and benefits of agriculture on water quality
-Information needs to provide monetary cost and benefit estimates
-A survey of OECD countries impact estimates
-Further research
Chapter 4. OECD policy instruments and mixes addressing water quality issues in agriculture
-Economic instruments
-Environmental regulations
-Information instruments and other persuasive approaches to address water pollution
Chapter 5. OECD policy experiences in addressing water quality issues in agriculture
-Addressing nitrate water pollution from agriculture in the European Union
-Lowering pollution of the Chesapeake Bay, United States: The role of agriculture
-Reducing salinity in agriculture to improve water quality: The case of Australia
-Implementing water quality trading for nitrogen pollution in Lake Taupo, New Zealand
-Improving research on diffuse source water pollution: France and the United Kingdom
-Reforming governance to address social concerns with water quality in New Zealand
-Addressing transborder pollution: The Baltic Sea, eutrophication and agriculture
-Establishing co-operative agreements to address diffuse source pollution
Chapter 6. Moving towards sustainable water quality management in agriculture
-Policy challenges
-Policy responses
-Policy reforms
-Policy governance and institutions