Aaretal - Monitoring of pesticides in the Kanton of Bern
In the last few years, the AWA (Amt für Wasser und
Abfall) of the Kanton of Bern investigated the surface water quality
intensively. Diverse chemical and ecological parameters were explored. For 2010
an extensive monitoring of the pesticide exposure in side valleys of the Aaretal
valley is planned. In particular, the Gürbetal seems to be of specific interest
because of an intensive agriculture, with a specifically high amount of vegetable
farming. Pesticide inputs from vegetable farming were so far much less
intensively investigated than inputs from crop production.
The department of Environmental Chemistry participates in the following questions:
- Development of a monitoring concept
- Substance screening of surface waters and definition of model substances for the field study
- GIS based analysis of the region and estimation of the pesticide use
- Supporting
the evaluation and interpretation of the field study data concerning (i) pesticide
source identification, (ii) convenient measures for input reduction, and
(iii) spatial transferability of the results.
Project collaborators
Contractor
Amt für
Wasser und Abfall Kanton Bern (AWA)
Aaretal