The Effect of Field-Scale Agricultural Practices on NPS Water Quality Winthin the Canadian Prairies

摘要

It is often implied that surface and groundwaters within the canadian prairies are widely, unacceptably degraded by agriculture. Yet, although the potential exists for field-negatively effect water quality, findings are by no means certain. Individual altitudes on relative risk and zero tolerance, and the strengths and limitation behind water quality guidelines-all have great bearing on how each person interprets water quality information. In this study, we accept the canadian water quality guidelines as a resonable basis for water quality evaluation. Within the context of those guidelines, we find no clear evidence of the widespread contamination of surface and groundwaters from nonpoint agricultural activities on the prairies.For example, relatively few pesticides are consistently detected in surface and groundwaters, and these rarely exceed current guidelines. This does not mean there are no problems. But current detections are generally neither wide-spread nor excessive in magnitude. Intensively managed lands and irrigated areas appear to present the greatest hazard to water quality impairment. There is merit in the prairie-wide coordination of water quality activities to assure a unified approach towards common objectives.