Summit for Finding Common Ground in Controlling Agricultural Nonpoint Sources of Nutrients

There has been a growing realization on a global scale of the connection between increasing nonpoint sources of nutrients from often-vast watersheds and the eutrophication of surface waters--this is particularly so for coastal waters during the latter half of the 20^th century. There are three drivers of this phenomenon: the growth of human populations, wastes, and land development; atmospheric emissions of nitrogen from fossil fuel combustion; and intensification of agriculture, including large increases in application of chemical fertilizers and more concentrated animal production. While in some areas such as the northeastern US, human population pressures and atmospheric deposition are the most important sources, in many other areas as diverse as the Northern Adriatic, northwestern Black Sea, Chesapeake Bay, Pamlico Sound and the northern Gulf of Mexico, agricultural activities comprise a very large component of nutrient inputs to eutrophic coastal waters.

Three recent reports have brought the seriousness of this issue to the center stage: NOAA’s National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment; the National Research Council’s Clean Coastal Waters: Understanding and Reducing the Effects of Nutrient Pollution; and the National Science and Technology Council’s Integrated Assessment of Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

Even in areas where the need to control agricultural sources has been recognized for more than a decade (e.g. the Chesapeake Bay), progress in effecting substantial reductions in nutrient losses from agricultural activities has been slow. In other areas (such as the Mississippi Basin), there is not yet wide understanding of the problem among the public, agricultural community, and political leadership.

An important limiting factor in effectively controlling agricultural nutrient inputs is the different perspectives and cultures within the scientific community. Environmental scientists, who are trained to discover and analyze problems, have made great progress in documenting the sources, pathways and effects over time-scales of years to decades. Agricultural scientists are trained to solve practical problems for their clients and their scale of their perspectives are generally the field and growing season. Different terminologies exist. Agricultural scientists often are uninformed about processes affecting nutrients beyond the field, even on a small watershed scale. Environmental scientists generally do not have a clue concerning practical agronomic considerations.

This difference has been an impediment to achieving societal consensus on solutions that address the serious and growing problem of eutrophication while, at the same time, sustaining a viable agricultural economy. Environmental advocates use the work of ecologists and geochemists to condemn agriculture. Agricultural advocates cite agronomists and economists in denying culpability or warning against financial ruin. Rather, environmental and agricultural scientists should be working together to find practical and effective solutions.

Objectives and Approach:

A “Summit” involving a highly selective group of leaders in the environmental and agricultural science communities is being held on October 7-9 at the Aspen Institute in Queenstown, Maryland, to provide a mechanism for finding “common ground” on the nature of the relationship of agricultural nutrient sources and coastal eutrophication and on the most effective strategies (scientific and operational) to effect appropriate and achievable reductions of these sources. The Summit will work within a set of accepted principles for sustaining viable agricultural production while improving the integrity of aquatic ecosystems.

A subset of the participating experts will be asked to prepare background and also position papers in advance to be shared prior to the Summit in order to minimize the need for report time and thereby maximize the rapport time available. The entire group of experts will address a series of central questions. A summary consensus paper will be quickly developed based on Summit deliberations, circulated, revised until acceptable and published in a major scientific journal. Other publications intended for more specialized audiences and journals and for the broader public will also be published as outcomes from the Summit.

Specific objectives of the deliberations and publications are to:

Foster collegial working relationships among leaders in the fields;
Develop consensus on the degree to which agricultural sources contribute to coastal eutrophication and the factors responsible for export of nutrients from agricultural soils and activities;
Identify the most effective and practical strategies to reduce those sources as needed in the context of the other challenges facing American agriculture (e.g. soil quality, sustainability, carbon sequestration, etc.);
Design a scientific agenda for research, monitoring, and modeling to advance understanding and effective solutions.

The Common Ground Summit is convened by:

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (Dr. Donald F.Boesch, President)
Maryland Institute of Agro-Ecology (Dr. Russell Brinsfield, Director)
Environmental Defense (Dr. Robert Howarth, Director of Ocean Programs)

The Summit is also sponsored by:

National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Last updated September 17, 2001