Diffuse Pollution
The objective of the Diffuse Pollution Group is to promote research, disseminate information and support development of policy to understand and solve contamination of natural resources by diffuse or non-point sources.
The Group aims to address a wide range of issues associated with agricultural and urban contamination of water, air, and soil resources that result from disseminated or non-point sources. These sources include direct application of contaminants such as pesticides and plant nutrients; dispersal to and deposition of atmospheric pollutants on land and water; disseminated urban contaminants that leach to groundwater or runoff following storms; and contaminants released due to changes in land-use such as deforestation, land drainage, and large-scale construction. The group is particularly interested in understanding the physical, hydrological, biological, and chemical process that contribute to diffuse pollution and learning how this knowledge may be used to design systems to mitigate diffuse pollution at their sources. To this end, the group provides a forum for discussing sustainable use of land and water resources and reducing the impact of land-use on water resources. Social, economic, and policy issues are also important to the group as it provides opportunities to link technological questions and potential solutions with the human institutions and communities that will benefit from improvements in water, air, and soil quality. The group distributes a semi-annual newsletter, sponsors specialized conferences, and promotes workshops on regionally important issues.
The Specialist Group on Eutrophication was merged into the Specialist Group on Diffuse Pollution. Representatives from the Eutrophication group are being sought to join the Diffuse Pollution management committee to ensure that the topic of eutrophication is well represented and to help to integrate the members.
The Diffuse Pollution group organises conferences and papers in Water Science and Technology and other scientific journals. The last two SG conferences were: diffuse pollution and eutrophication (14th), 12-17 September 2010 in Château Mont Sainte-Anne, Beaupré, Quebec, Canada, and next Diffuse Pollution and Eutrophication International Conference, Rotorua, New Zealand 19-23 September 2011 (www.dipcon2011.org ). The next SG conference on diffuse pollution and eutrophication will take pace in Beijing, China from 18 to 23 August 2013.
The frequency of specialised conferences and the large number of conference participants reflects the recognition from members and potential host countries of the importance of Diffuse Pollution issues. The group notices that the regional spreading of the conferences over different continents contributes to a better involvement of these regions. This diversity allows for these regions to focus the attention on specific regional problems and to participate due to lower costs.
The group has worked closely with the IWA Foundation to organize and fund diffuse pollution workshops in India and Bangkok. It produced the diffuse pollution video Nature’s Way in 1996 that was one of the first examples of additional areas of activity that are open to the various groups within IWA. In additon, the book "Diffuse Pllution, an introduction to the problems and solutions" was published in 2004 under the auspices of the DP specialist group
(http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=isbn1900222531&type=category). At the annual conferences, the group organizes workshops to discuss problems and sollutions about actual themes like traffic emmisions and sustainable agriculture.
The group is currently bringing research results to the attention of governments through IWA’s global network so that better-informed decisions lead to more effective pollution control at the source of contamination, particularly in regions where diffuse pollution is in its infancy. The group collaborates closely with other specialist groups on areas of overlapping interest (urban drainage, use of macrophytes, eutrophication, river basin management and technology for the developing world) as well as with interest groups such as the Water Utilities Interest Group and the Regulators Group. The group currently has approximately 500 members and is particularly interested in new members from Africa, South and Central America, and Australasia.
Chair
Dr. Eric van Bochove
Soils and Crops Research and Development Centre
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
2560 Hochelaga Blvd Québec, QC, G1V 2J3
Canada
Tel: 418-210-5050
Fax: 418-648-2402
Vice-Chair
Prof. Sung-Ryong Ha
College of Engineering
Chungbuk National University
410 Seongbongro, Cheongju
Chungbuk, 361-763, South Korea
Secretary
Mr. Peter Schipper
ALTERRA, Wageningen UR
Wageningen Campus
P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen
The Netherlands
Management Committee
see committee members here
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