Curative vs. preventive management of nitrogen transfers in rural areas: Lessons from the case of the Orgeval watershed (Seine River basin, France)

The Orgeval watershed (104 km2) is a long-term experimental observatory and research site, representative of rural areas with intensive cereal farming of the temperate world. Since the past few years, we have been carrying out several studies on nitrate source, transformation and transfer of both surface and groundwaters in relation with land use and agriculture practices in order to assess nitrate (NO3−) leaching, contamination of aquifers, denitrification processes and associated nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. A synthesis of these studies is presented to establish a quantitative diagnosis of nitrate contamination and N2O emissions at the watershed scale. Taking this watershed as a practical example, we compare curative management measures, such as pond introduction, and preventive measures, namely conversion to organic farming practices, using model simulations. It is concluded that only preventive measures are able to reduce the NO3− contamination level without further increasing N2O emissions, a result providing new insights for future management bringing together water-agro-ecosystems.