Agricultural pesticide use is one of the main sources of groundwater pollution that threatens public water supply and even the ecology of surface water systems (since it provides the base flow for many rivers and streams). Despite efforts to protect groundwater resources, pesticide groundwater pollution is growing at alarming rates in many parts of the world. Since groundwater moves slowly through the aquifer, the impact of contaminants generated from agricultural activities may persist for a long time. Therefore, groundwater policies should focus on preventing pollution rather than addressing it after it has occurred.
In my recently published paper on policies to reduce pesticide groundwater contamination, I found that a price penalty on pesticides based on their contribution to groundwater pollution can induce farmers to reduce pesticide use and, as a result, groundwater contamination. The examined price penalty which is essentially a charge on farmers’ potential rather than actual groundwater pollution, which is difficult to measure, can be implemented at the level of pesticide suppliers. Read more about this research here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09640568.2019.1606618
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