Long-term improvement in surface water quality after land consolidation in a drinking water reservoir catchment

Abstract

The aim was to explore how soil and water conservation measures, applied in the process of land consolidation, affected nutrient concentrations in surface waters of the Hubenov drinking water reservoir in the Českomoravská vrchovina Upland. A significant part of the catchment serves as a protection zone for the reservoir. The protection measures, such as restrictions on the maximum amount of manure and N and P fertilizers, were applied in the case study area according to recommendations of a land consolidation project. The Hubenov reservoir water resources were monitored for twenty years (1990-2010) in order to collect water quality data on nitrate nitrogen (N-NO3-), total phosphorus (Ptot), and total suspended solids. The results of monitoring indicate a linear trend of decrease in N-NO3- and Ptot concentrations following the soil and water conservation measures applied.

Keywords

• land use
• protection zone
• soil and water conservation
• water pollution