Groundwater information sheet : the impact of agriculture

This is one of a series of information sheets prepared in relation to specific human activities which are of significant concern for the management of groundwater resources and protection of groundwater quality. The sheets aim to summarise the characteristics of each activity, describe the risk of each one impacting on groundwater, the possible approaches to their investigation and potential methods of control, mitigation or restoration. The purpose of these information sheets is to raise awareness of these issues amongst WaterAid Country Office staff, to provide guidance on taking the potential impacts of these activities into account in programme planning and implementation and on targeting monitoring and assessment efforts accordingly, and to encourage further thinking in the organisation on water quality and water management issues. The three sheets in this series (agriculture, industry and urbanisation) complement previous information sheets on specific groundwater quality parameters and for target WaterAid countries, and should be read in conjunction with these. The sheet on nitrate is particularly relevant, and material is not repeated here.