Local challenges and water contaminants
In Val Tidone catchment there is a mixed urban/rural land-use; ground water is used for drinking water production and for zootechnical and agricultural applications. Monitoring results from the regional authority and WaterProtect partner ARPAE-ER revealed a non-adequate quality of the ground water mainly due to the presence of plant protection products (PPP) and nutrients. Agriculture is the principal contributor to pollution from PPPs and nutrients even if the vineyards contribution to the general contamination is not well defined.
Until now the impact of the grape cultivation on pesticides and nitrates groundwater contamination was never investigated. Therefore during the three years of the WaterProtect project the ground water will be monitored and historical data will be collected in order to determinate the possible contribution of grape cultivation on water contamination by pesticides and nitrates.
