Pesticide contamination interception strategy and removal efficiency in forest buffer and artificial wetland in a tile-drained agricultural watershed

•An artificial wetland and a forest buffer were set-up in a tile-drained watershed.•Typically, the first flows after pesticide spraying had the highest concentrations.•An open close strategy is proposed for pesticide flow interception.•Load reductions were 45–96% in the wetland and −32% to 100% in the forest.•Infiltration, sorption and degradation accounted for these results.

Pesticide pollution is a major threat to aquatic ecosystems that can be mitigated through complementary actions including buffer zones (BZs). This paper discusses the results of 3 yr of field-scale monitoring of the concentration and load transfer of 16 pesticides out of a tile-drained catchment (Bray, France) and their reduction through two BZ: an artificial wetland (AW) and a forest buffer (FB). Typically, the highest concentrations were measured in the first flows following pesticide applications or resuming after periods of low or no flow. An open/close water management strategy was implemented to operate the parallel BZ based on pesticide applications by the farmer. The strategy was efficient in intercepting molecules whose highest concentrations occurred during the first flows following application. Inlet vs. outlet pesticide load reductions ranged from 45% to 96% (AW) and from −32% to 100% (FB) depending on the pesticide molecule and the hydrological year. Partly reversible adsorption was a dominant process explaining pesticide removal; whereas, degradation occurred for sufficiently long water retention time. Apart from the least sorbing molecules (e.g., isoproturon), BZ can partially remove pesticide pollution.