Sources of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the Catchment Area of Neusiedlersee/Fertö, Austria/Hungary

Abstract

Neusiedlersee (in German) / Fertö tó (in Hungarian) is a shallow lake at the Austro-Hungarian border. In the late 1970s, the question arose what to do in order to protect the lake against eutrophication. A preliminary report established the need for point-source control as well as gave first estimates for non-point source inputs. The proposed point-source control was quickly implemented, non-point sources were - among other topics - studied in detail in the period 1982 - 1986. The preliminary work had shown, based on integrated sampling and data from literature, that the aeolic input outweighed the one via water erosion (work was for totP only). In contrast to this, the 1982 - 1986 study showed that (a) water erosion by far dominates over aeolic inputs and (b) the size of nonpoint-source inputs was assessed for the largest catchment area in pronounced detail, whereas additional estimates were undertaken for smaller additional catchment areas. The methods as well as the results are presented in the following. The paper concludes with some remarks on the present management practice of nonpoint-source inputs.