The agriculture and forestry service (‘lawa’) of the canton of Lucerne has created a concept for the development of ‘phosphorus projects Phase III’ in close partnership with the FOAG and FOEN, in order to renew the existing Phosphorus Project according to GSchG [=Water Protection Act’] Art. 62a.
The research project conducted concurrently has delivered the following results:
The multi-year measurements of the P loads in the brooks show that the diffuse inputs (surface runoff, tile drainage, leaching, atmospheric deposition on surface waters, farmyard runoff, etc.) still constitute the main sources of algae-stimulating P inputs in Lake Baldegg. The soils in the catchment area of Lake Baldegg have excessively high P levels. A drastic reduction of soil P is therefore necessary in order to reduce diffuse inputs. This can only be achieved through a significantly reduced P input on agricultural land. In addition, it is recommended that any heavily loaded drainage systems be examined and improved in the event of excessive P load.
