Overview of measures

Last changed: 20 June 2024

Water management measures in the agricultural landscape are central in the progress to reach sustainable development goals. Knowledge on their functionality and effectiveness under various local conditions is needed for cost-effective localisation and implementation.

Water and nutrients are transported from the fields through drainage systems and out to the stream. Therefore, also the landscape perspective is key in water management. Each measure may have limited effect but all together they make difference.

Many types of effects

Beside the effects on nutrient and water retention, many measures also have other benefits as increased potential for biodiversity on land and in waters, for example by the establishment of more surface waters. On the other hand, the same measure could have negative side-effects, for example increased emissions of green house gases.

An attempt to estimate the various effects of measures is shown in the figure below. The estimations are general and the true effect will largely depend on local conditions, for example the soil type.

Nutrient and water retention measures could also have effects on groundwater infiltration, agricultural production, biodiversity, carbon storage and green house gas emissions. The heatmap show estimations of these effects for each of 12 measures located in the agricultural landscape. The estimations are general and the real effect may vary largely due to local conditions.

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