Pesticide concentrations in agricultural storm drainage inlets of a small Swiss catchment
Open access
Date
2022-06Type
- Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
Agricultural pesticides transported to surface waters pose a major risk for aquatic ecosystems. Modelling studies indicate that the inlets of agricultural storm drainage systems can considerably increase the connectivity of surface runof and pesticides to surface waters. These model results have however not yet been validated with feld measurements. In this study, we measured discharge and concentrations of 51 pesticides in four out of 158 storm drainage inlets of a small Swiss agricultural catchment (2.8 km2) and in the receiving stream. For this, we performed an event-triggered sampling during 19 rain events and collected plot-specifc pesticide application data. Our results show that agricultural storm drainage inlets strongly infuence surface runof and pesticide transport in the study catchment. The concentrations of single pesticides in inlets amounted up to 62 µg/L. During some rain events, transport through single inlets caused more than 10% of the stream load of certain pesticides. An extrapolation to the entire catchment suggests that during selected events on average 30 to 70% of the load in the stream was transported through inlets. Pesticide applications on felds with surface runof or spray drift potential to inlets led to increased concentrations in the corresponding inlets. Overall, this study corroborates the relevance of such inlets for pesticide transport by establishing a connectivity between felds and surface waters, and by their potential to deliver substantial pesticide loads to surface waters. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000595950Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
Environmental Science and Pollution ResearchVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
SpringerSubject
Storm drainage inlets; Hydraulic shortcuts; Field study; Agricultural runoff; Surface runoff; Spray drift; Pesticide concentrations; Pesticide transport pathwaysOrganisational unit
03989 - Maurer, Max / Maurer, Max
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ETH Bibliography
yes
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