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Pesticide river contamination—identification of significant pressures in the context of the WFD

MARTIN BACH¹, BJÖRN RÖPKE² & HANS-GEORG FREDE¹

1 Institute of Resources Management, University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, D-35392 Giessen, Germany

martin.bach@agrar.uni-giessen.de

2 Bayer CropScience AG, D-40789 Monheim, Germany

Abstract The implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) demands the identification of the significance of point and non-point sources of pesticide contamination. The model DRIPS (Drainage, Runoff and spray drift Input of Pesticides in Surface waters) offers a first approach to estimate pesticide input into surface waters by diffuse sources with a spatial resolution of 1 km² for the territory of Germany. The tool calculates the quantity of pesticide input from non-point sources via surface runoff, tile drainage and spray drift. The resulting initial Predicted Environmental Concentrations (PEC surface water) of active ingredients (a.i.) can be retrieved considering the mean daily input of an a.i. into various types of river basins characterized by their daily discharge. DRIPS results as a contribution to River Basin Management Plans are to more or less accurately reproduce the current situation of surface water contamination, to evaluate the significance of input sources and to plan remediation measures.

Key words Germany; model DRIPS; non-point source; pesticide; point source; pressure; river contamination