The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has released a new report this week which is highly critical of progress made by OCED governments in reducing water contamination from farming. The OCED report shows little progress has been made in tackling contamination over the past decade, resulting in problems ranging from contaminated drinking water supplies, which require treatment in Scotland, to huge dead zones off the coast of the USA.

The report shows that, not only are pollutant levels high in many areas, but sources of contamination are often spread widely across the landscape, making measurement and control difficult.

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The rise in commodity prices over recent years, which the OECD and UN Food and Agriculture Organisation have forecast will continue over the coming decade, has encouraged more intensive production and with it the risk of water pollution is rising, however, OECD governments, which cover many agricultural powerhouses, including the USA, Canada, EU and Australia have proven largely ineffective in combating this.

The OECD’s report, Water Quality and Agriculture: Meeting the Policy Challenge, adds that even where low-pollution management systems have been adopted, there is sometimes a considerable time lag before water quality improves. However, the report does acknowledge that in OECD countries, which are mostly rich nations, drinking water quality is high and although farming is often the major source of pollution, it is not the only one.

Nevertheless, the report’s focus is on pollution form agriculture; it states that the key challenge for policy makers is to reduce farm contaminants - nutrients, pesticides, soil sediments, and veterinary products - which are lost into water systems, whilst encouraging higher water quality for recreational and other uses.

Water Quality and Agriculture states that, whereas previous attempts to help farmers tackle pollution have generally failed to meet water quality policy goals, its recommendations could give rise to more effective policies, which would ensure sustainable management of water quality in agriculture.

The OECD’s recommendation include:

• Enforcing compliance with existing water quality regulations and standards;
• Removing production and input related support in agriculture in order to lower pressure on water systems;
• Using a mix of policy instruments;
• Adopting the Polluter Pays Principle to reduce agricultural water contamination where practical;
• Setting realistic water policy targets and standards for agriculture;
• Improving the targeting of policies to areas where water pollution is most acute;
• Assessing the cost effectiveness of different policy options to improve water quality;
• Taking a holistic approach to agricultural pollution policies Establishing information systems to better support farmers, water managers and policy makers

The major concern, according to the OECD, is for immediate action to be taken to ensure environmental goals are taken seriously even in the face of a global economic crisis and  particularly as the projected growth and intensification of agricultural production over the coming years will place further pressure on water quality in many regions. The report finds climate change will also complicate the task of meeting water quality objectives.

The week the OECD also issued calls for governments to look to the long term and stand by environmental policies in the face of economic hardships. Whereas in the UK, the government’s attitude has caused grave concern, the OECD said looking tot the future is more important now than ever before. Last year, chancellor George Osborne incited the wrath of environmentalists by proclaiming in his Autumn Statement, “I am worried about the combined impact of the green policies adopted not just in Britain, but also by the European Union, on some of our heavy, energy-intensive industries. We are not going to save the planet by shutting down our steel mills, aluminium smelters and paper manufacturers.”

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. “Greener sources of growth can help governments today as they tackle these pressing challenges. Greening agriculture, water and energy supply and manufacturing will be critical by 2050 to meet the needs of over 9 billion people.”

The Secretary-General continued, “Severe water shortages are a looming threat to agriculture. These enormous environmental challenges cannot be addressed in isolation. They must be managed in the context of other global challenges, such as food and energy security, and poverty alleviation.”

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