SOLAW Thematic Report on Water Quality

Abstract

Water quality and agriculture interactions are many and complex. The development of large irrigation schemes has been an important contributor to global food security, particularly in arid areas, but it has also been associated with land and water salinity problems. Both, expansion and intensification of agriculture have led to an increasing use of fertilizers and pesticides that, when not well managed, has degraded the water quality of rivers, lakes and marine water bodies. Intensification of l ivestock farming systems is a case in point: concentrating inputs increases the potential transmission of pollution from both animal waste and fodder production and, if not managed or regulated well, eutrophication of freshwater bodies can easily result.