Agricultural Pollution Control Project

WBTF 050327- RO ROMANIA

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT

AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Project Management UnitStefan NICOLAU, PhD

Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

The Governmentof Romania

Global EnvironmentFacility

The World Bank

Nitrogen 4th Conference, October 1–5, 2007 Costa do Sauipe, Bahia, Brazil

Country location into the Black Sea Basin

ROMANIA – GENERAL INFORMATION

Area: 238,392 km2

Population: 22.7 mil. inh.

Capital: Bucharest

No. of Counties: 42

Large Cities: 7

Communes: 2,686

Agricultural Land: 14.9 mil. ha

Forests: 6.4 mil. ha

International Waters(Danube River): 1.075 km

National Waters: 9,301 km

The data published by the ICPDR shows that Romania is an important contributor to the overall pollution of the Danube River with nutrients

from non point sources

Project Global Environmental Objectives

• The global environmental objective of the Project is to reduce, over the long-term, the discharge of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) into the Danube River and Black Sea through integrated land and water management of the Calarasi region and ecological rehabilitation of two agricultural polders.

Project Financing Sources

Total Project value: US$ 10.8 mil., out of which:

• US$ 5.15 mil. World Bank from GEF funds;• US$ 1.86 mil. Government of Romania;• US$ 0.29 mil. Calarasi County Council;• US$ 1.0 mil. From the Governmental “Agricultural

Support Services” Project;• US$ 2.50 mil. In kind contribution of the direct

beneficiaries.• US$ 0.16 mil. Parallel financing of the USAID

Cooperation with Other International Financed Projects

• Parallel financing for one supplemental pilot platform and manure management training, from funds granted by USAID;

• Cooperation with the WB assisted project “Agricultural Suport Services”, for a joint implementation of a Competitive Grant Scheme in Calarasi County;

• Close cooperation with the WB financed project “Rural Development”, implemented in Calarasi,

Project Components

Component 1 – Activities in Calarasi County (US$9.22 m)

a)At the County level, the APCP provded support for the CGS sub-projects awarded in Calarasi on environment-friendly agricultural practices (US$1.330 m)

b)In seven communes, comprising about 90,000 ha of land:–Manure management practices (US$5.20 m);–Testing/Demonstration of environmental friendly agricultural

practices (US$2.47 m);–Integrated management of the Boianu–Sticleanu polder (US$0.83

m) and ecological restoration of the Calarasi–Raul polder (US$0.26 m);–Strengthening the Capacity in Calarasi County to Monitor Soil and

Water Quality and Environmental Impacts (US$0.46 m);

Project Components

Component 2 – Strengthening National Policy and Regulatory Capacity (US$0.27 m)

Providing technical assistance and material support to the MEWM and MARD on:

– Application of the Nitrate Directive in the Romanian Agriculture;

– Preparing a Code of Good Agricultural Practices;

– Strengthening the capacity of NAEA to promote scientific organic farming and land use management.

Project Components

Component 3 – Public Awareness and Replication Strategy (US$0.45 m)

- Local level campaign – Calarasi County

- National Level campaign

- Regional replication

Component 4 – Project Management Unit (US$0.87 m)

Identified sources of pollution with nutrients:

At household level:

Inappropriate manure storage

Lack off or bad conditions of the concrete slab protecting the water well against direct infiltrations

Aggravating factors:

Identified sources of pollution with nutrients:

At commune level:

Inappropriate manure disposal

Identified sources of pollution with nutrients:

At commune level:

Inappropriate manure disposal

Grazing of animals on soil erosion prone areas

Large areas of slopped land draining into watercourses

Temporary housing of livestock near watercourses

Project Interventions

Four levels actions:I. Creating a minimum infrastructure for achieving visible

results at household and commune level;

II. Supporting local authorities to implement efficient systems for manure management;

III. Inducing changes in the current behaviors;

IV. Monitoring the soil and waters quality.

Project Interventions

At household levelIndividual Platforms

Plastic Bins for waste segregation

Project Interventions

At household level

At commune level

Reclamation of former unauthorized manure storages

Construction and operation of manure storage and composting facilities

Project Interventions

At commune level

Demonstrations of well head rehabilitation

Project Interventions

At commune level

Riparian Buffers with forest vegetation

Windbreaks, Shelterbelts

Inducing changes in current behaviors

Behavioral Changes

Manure management

Training

Technical assistance

Legal instruments

For manure management:

• Providing knowledge for manure management and its further use;

• Technical assistance for platforms operating;

• Support for creating legal instruments for assuring an efficient system for nutrients recovering.

Inducing changes in current behaviors

Inducing changes in current behaviors

• For extension consultants, mayors, commune officials and the village inhabitants:– Management of the waste at the household level;– The use of the household manure platform;– Use of the bins for the segregated house waste;– Deposition of the segregated waste at the commune’s platform;– The deposition of the recycling materials into the appropriate bunker.

• For extension consultants, mayors, commune officials and the site staff:– The benefits of the recycling of nutrients from the farmyard manure;– Management and administration of a manure storage facility;– Good Practices in storage and recycling nutrients;– Timing of application and preparation of application plans.

• For the equipment operating staff:– the use of the specific equipment;– Forming and moving the windrows of manure.

Inducing changes in current behaviors

Behavioral Changes

Manure managementEnvironmental friendly agr. practices

Training

Technical assistance

Legal instruments

Testing-demonstration program

Afforestation program

CGS

Public Awareness Campaign

Testing-demonstration program at local level

• Demonstration of good agricultural practices for farmers;

Weeds and pests control

Crop rotation

Green fertilizersSoil tillage

Nutrients management

Demonstrated practices

Testing-demonstration program at local level

• Demonstration of good agricultural practices for farmers;

• Wells head protection program;• Unauthorized platforms rehabilitation;

Testing-demonstration program at local level

• Demonstration of good agricultural practices for farmers;

• Wells head protection program;• Unauthorized platforms rehabilitation;• Support for local pastures rehabilitation;• Granting funds for organic farming sub-projects

on competitive basis.

Local afforestation program

• Targeted areas for afforestation:- sloped terrain, exposed to erosion and with low agricultural potential;

- unprotected water courses;- areas with swamping tendency;- eroded shores;- degraded lands with low agricultural potential;

• Types of interventions- windbreaks;- shelterbelts;- narrow vegetative barriers;- riparian buffers;- hedge rows and tree rows around manure platforms.

Local communities involvement for the afforestation programme – Al. Odobescu 2003

Watercourse area planted with willows, Polder Boianu-Sticleanu, Ciocanesti commune 2003

Water lodged area planted with tree in Boianu-Sticleanu Polder, Cuza Voda commune, 2003.

Water lodged area planted with tree in Boianu-Sticleanu Polder, Cuza Voda commune, 2004.

Trees planted area – Independenta commune, August 2002

Trees planted area – Independenta commune, August 2003

The same location, August 2004

Tree planted on the erosion-prone locations – Vlad Tepes commune

Local Public Awareness Campaign

Objectives:• Informing the population regarding the Project

and its objectives;• Dissemination of information regarding the

Project supported activities, inside and outside Project area;

• Public ecological education;• Targeted activities for sustaining Project

implementation.

Using existing events (Danube Day – Calarasi 2004)

Creating new events (Crop Festival – Valcelele 2004)

Creating new events (Crop Festival – Cuza Voda 2005)

Contests (planting contest – Cuza Voda 2003)

Flopi campaign-2004

Pictures extibition, 2003

Promotional materials

Project Interventions

At project area level:

A detailed water quality monitoring network

Rehabilitation of the water and soil quality monitoring laboratories

Measuring results of nutrient pollution control interventions

• Monitoring the nutrients concentration into the surface and ground water and review of eutrophical state of the surface waters at regular intervals.

• Use of indirect measurement methods.

Options:

Measuring nutrients concentration into the ground and surface waters

Strong points:– It shows the actual

quality of the ground and surface waters at designated measuring stations.

Weak points:– The existing sampling

stations could be not representative for project interventions.

– The frequency of measurements could not catch stochastic events as storm rains, snow melting or variable factors as fertilizers or manure applications.

– The trend of nutrient concentration does not reflect only the project interventions.

– It is expensive.

Nitrate concentration in Piezometers

Piezometer P5

0.000

5.000

10.000

15.000

20.000

25.000

01.0

9.03

01.1

1.03

01.0

1.04

01.0

3.04

01.0

5.04

01.0

7.04

01.0

9.04

01.1

1.04

01.0

1.05

01.0

3.05

01.0

5.05

01.0

7.05

01.0

9.05

01.1

1.05

01.0

1.06

01.0

3.06

01.0

5.06

01.0

7.06

Testing Date

NO

3 -

mg

/l

NO3

Piezometer P8

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

01.0

9.03

01.1

1.03

01.0

1.04

01.0

3.04

01.0

5.04

01.0

7.04

01.0

9.04

01.1

1.04

01.0

1.05

01.0

3.05

01.0

5.05

01.0

7.05

01.0

9.05

01.1

1.05

01.0

1.06

01.0

3.06

01.0

5.06

01.0

7.06

Testing Date

NO

3 -

mg

/l

NO3

Drinking water quality

Water Well C18

0.000

20.000

40.000

60.000

80.000

100.000

120.000

24.1

1.03

24.0

1.04

24.0

3.04

24.0

5.04

24.0

7.04

24.0

9.04

24.1

1.04

24.0

1.05

24.0

3.05

24.0

5.05

24.0

7.05

24.0

9.05

24.1

1.05

24.0

1.06

24.0

3.06

Testing Date

NO

3 -

mg

/l

NO3

Why use the indirect measurement methods?

• Are based on extensive scientific research.

• Allow assessment of total results of a variety of diverse interventions.

• Are cheap and offer good accuracy.

• Allow for quantitative estimate in terms of nutrient pollution reduction using the survey results.

• Allow for forecasting of results of new projects implementing the same nutrient pollution control interventions.

Before Project (Year 2000)

Total manure (tons):

Of which:

Use Comments% tons

80,184

2 1,604As fertilizers in the back yard vegetable garden

Good practice, reduced looses

98 78,850Mixed with household waste and dumped in unauthorized places

The entire quantity of nutrients is lost

Nutrients (kg/t)

N P K

6 3.5 8

Nutrients in fresh manure

Year 2006 (Project year 5)

Total manure (tons):

Of which:

Use Comments% tons

80,184

5 4,009As fertilizers in the back yard vegetable garden

Good practice, reduced looses

29 22,950Manure applied as fertilizer on agricultural lands

Good practice. Only the nutrients that are not available to plants are lost

66 53,225

Still unmanaged manure, source of pollution, due to the inappropriate behavior of some farmers

The entire quantity of nutrients is lost

According the monitoring surveys and the communes’ reports, the use of the manure during the year 2006 was as follows:

Reduction of nutrients discharge into the waters in the year 2006, due to manure management interventions at commune and household levels:

N (t/year) P (t/year) K (t/year)

Nutrients subject to leaching WITHOUT PROJECT (t/year)

473.41 276.15 631.21

Nutrients subject to leaching PY5 - 2006 (t/year)

389.57 194.83 489.59

Reduction of nutrients discharge into the ground and surface waters in year 2006 (t/year)

83.84 81.32 141.62

Total reduction of the nutrients discharge into the waters in the Project area, in the year 2006, as result of appropriate Manure Management and use of the

Code of Good Agricultural Practices:

Reduction of nutrients discharge into the ground and surface waters in year

2006 (t/year)

From manure and factory made fertilizers used into the Project area

N (t) P (t) K (t)

128.6 110.8 141.7

Effectiveness of investmentDemonstrations measured in terms of actual stress reduction (N reduction) achieved at the project site(s)

Estimate of impact achievable through country-wide application of new approach (to all NVZs)

Extrapolation to the entire watershed

Measurable during project lifetime

Due to lag time of response, changes in environmental status in the target water-body will only be detected well beyond project completion

Stress reduction Environmental status

Source: Andrea Merla – GEF Secretariat

N (tons)

P (tons)

K (tons)

Present situation:Total nutrients looses into the aquatic system (tones/year)

15,350 8,950 20,460

After Project implementation (year 2013):Total nutrients looses into the aquatic system (tones/year)

11,010 5,255 15,585

Forecasted reduction of nutrients looses into the aquatic system (tones/year) 4,340 3,695 4,875

Estimation of the impact achievable through application of manure management and use of the Code of Good Agricultural Practices to all NVZs

Lessons learned that could be transferred to help other GPA – Partnership in order to achieve similar results

The Recipe of a Smooth and Successful Implementation

- Strong support of the central coordinating authority and the World Bank counterparts;

- Permanent contacts and substantial involvement of the local authorities

- Total commitment of the Project beneficiaries

- Timely and appropriate guidance from the National and Local Coordination Committees

- GEF, GOR and Local funds available on timely basis

- A knowledgeable and dedicated Project Implementation Team.

Thank you for your attentionThank you for your attention

Project Management Unit “Agricultural Pollution Control”

Tel: +40.741.242.002; E-mail: snicolau@mailox.ro; www.apcp.ro