Reducing diffuse loading: agriculture and scattered settlements
1. Reducing agricultural loading
From its present state, there can be no significant improvement in the protection of the Baltic Sea without intervening in the loading caused by agriculture. Diffuse pollution has a great impact on the state of the coastal waters. Measures to reduce erosion will enable the quality of the water to be improved, and will reduce the loading from solids and nutrients caused by agriculture.
Photo: Lotta Ruokanen
Methods used in the specific environmental support of agriculture: protection zones and bands, sedimentation basins, wetlands, and submerged weirs, have been used to stop the flow of solid substances along with water. In terms of water protection, keeping the solid substances on the fields is more efficient than actions to stop solid substances in channels. Direct sowing refers to the sowing and
spreading of fertilizer on untilled soil. Direct sowing can protect the land surface from erosion all year round. Another advantage of direct sowing is the low cost. Not using a plough saves time and cost.
Similarly, the use of carefully measured nutrients on the blocks of field saves both money and the environment. The best method of all for reducing loading of the water system from fields susceptible to flooding is to stop cultivating them altogether.
Although the cities of Helsinki and Turku are not significant agricultural producers, the cities endeavour to reduce the nutrient discharges to the water systems through their agriculture and from the fields they own.
Helsinki and Turku...
• Fields owned by the cities (e.g. Haltiala fields in Helsinki, and the fields at Ruissalo in Turku) to be changed to model fields as far as agricultural water protection actions are concerned.
– the fields will be planted by the direct sowing method
– the fertilizer level to be reduced to match realistic harvest targets, taking into account the phosphorous situation of the land
– the annual nutrient levels for different sections to be calculated, in order to determine the following year’s need for fertilizer.
– field areas that are repeatedly flooded or are particularly sensitive to erosion not to be cultivated
– between the field and water system, is always left a sufficiently wide unfertilised and uncultivated protection area from which the vegetation is cut
– set special requirements in terms of water system protection for those fields that the city rents out
• Using land exchange or other methods, concentrate on ending cultivation of erosion-sensitive land and land at risk from flooding, also from private owners.2. Reduction of wastewater emissions from scattered settlement areas
Photo: Sami Lyytinen
treatment systems of real estate owned by the cities (schools, camping areas etc) will speed up making wastewater treatment more efficient, compared with the time limits specified in the so called wastewater decree.
Helsinki and Turku...
• Improving and extending the sewage networks from the scattered settlement areas that are most
important in terms of water protection
• The cities will encourage the establishment of wastewater consortiums in built-up scattered settlement areas, providing they do not have the possibility for connection to the pressure sewage network.
– using support activity to speed up connection to centralized water supply for those areas without a sewage network
– the target areas are the Helsinki archipelago, the Turku archipelago and the Aurajoki river catchment area
• By 2010, the cities will upgrade the wastewater treatment systems to the standard specified in the regulations for their own real estate in the scattered settlement areas• Real estate owners will be given information and advice to encourage them to upgrade and improve the wastewater treatment systems before the time limits specified in the so-called wastewater decree.
