Drentse Aa (KB-14-001-061)

The Drentsche Aa catchment is one of the twenty National Parks and Sites of Netherlands. The catchment has a large agricultural area next to nature, and part urban area. Land use in the Drentsche Aa catchment mainly consist of agriculture, nature and built-up area. Furthermore, the water of the Drentsche Aa is used for drinking water and is the only brook in the Netherlands, where drinking water is extracted from surface water. The presence of particular pesticides in the water of the Drentsche Aa creates problems with the water intake by the Groningen drinking water company.

The goal of this project is a significant improvement of water quality by:

• To determine the most probable sources and routes which causes the exceedances of the standard for water quality with respect to pesticides.
• Proposing measures to reduce emissions of pesticides.

The approach of this proposal follows the four steps of the Working Group on Monitoring (with the participation of WUR PPO, Alterra WUR, RIVM, CML, Nefyto, Ctgb, UvW, Ministry of I & M).

The four steps of the Working Group on monitoring include:

1. Selection of pesticides which causes problems in terms of water quality.
2. Collection / processing of relevant data.
3. Analysis and interpretation of data collected by experts.
4. Identify and develop effective measures, in consultation with stakeholders.

 

In these steps, regional data and knowledge of the region is contributed by waterboard Hunze en Aa’s , The Province of Drenthe and the Groningen drinking water company.

The intended project results are:

• Understanding of sources and pathways of pesticides in the Drentsche Aa area.
• Understanding effective measures in cooperation with regional partners.
• Implementing measures introduced by regional stakeholders.
• Initial evaluation of the effectiveness of measures based on additional monitoring.
• Feedback of the results to regional partners (will strengthen awareness).
• Application of the national guidelines of the Working Group on Monitoring.

 

The intended application of knowledge both regionally and on a national scale.