Estimating reduction of nitrogen leaching from arable land and the related costs.

The EU Water Framework Directive will require river-basin management plans in order to achieve good ecological status and find the most cost-efficient nitrogen (N) leaching abatement measures. Detailed scenario calculations based on modeling methods will be valuable in this regard. This paper describes the approach and an application with a coefficient method based on the simulation model SOILNDB for quantification of N leaching from arable land and for prediction of the effect of abatement scenarios for the Rönneå catchment (1900 km2) in southern Sweden.