It is a benefit to the environment, farmers and general community to spread fertilisers so nutrient run-off is kept to a minimum.

Fortuitously, pre-existing retaining walls were already in place to contain nutrient run-off, from the days when the property was used to grow roses.

The researchers' data did not support the idea that land-use and crop choices contributed to the increase in nutrient run-off that fueled the bloom.

For nutrient pollution these may include more efficient use of fertilizers, improved wastewater management and other techniques to minimize nutrient run-off.

"Collectively we must continue to escalate efforts to improve the Chesapeake Bay watershed and reduce nutrient run-off as quickly as possible."

Population growth and consequent increased nutrient run-off appears to have lead to changes in the biological activity on the tidal flats abutting the management plan area.

In particular, overfertilisation and algal blooms caused by excess nutrient run-off are threatening the ecological equilibrium of the Baltic Sea.

Improvements in the local riparian and aquatic environments and reduction in erosion, sedimentation and nutrient run-off are also key objectives.

Wolff said nearly half of the state's farmers use no-till farming practices, in which farmers plant crops without disturbing the soil, reducing erosion and nutrient run-off.

Finland said it will intensify work on cleaning up the sea around its archipelago by 2020, focusing in particular on reducing the nutrient run-off from the agricultural sector.

Surface application and irrigationsystem application typically produce more odours and are often more susceptible to nutrient run-off and ammonia nitrogen losses.

"These are areas of water that are lacking in oxygen and are suffering from increases of CO2, rising temperatures, nutrient run-off from agriculture and other factors."

It provided access to some of the best fishing to be found in Victoria, however, fish stocks have been significantly depleted through over-fishing, nutrient run-off and destruction of sea-grass habitat.

In Hawaii, pollution and sedimentation from poor land-use practices, nutrient run-off from farms and waste-treatment plants, and destructive practices such as dynamite fishing and trawling affect reefs, researchers say.

Much of the environmental degradation has been caused by land clearing, the Bromelton Industrial Estate, nutrient run-off and the pumping of wastewater directly from several wastewater treatment plants in and around the Logan River.

Oceans are being hit by decreasing oxygen levels caused by climate change and increased nutrient run-off from agriculture and sewage, and are becoming more acidic as more carbon dioxide dissolves into the sea, both of which harm wildlife.

This is being done, for example, by restoring wetlands to trap nutrients along the Danube River, by reducing nutrient run-off from agricultural practices and by improving or introducing municipal waste water and sewerage treatment prior to any discharge into the sea.

Both forecasts are based on nutrient run-off and river stream data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with the Chesapeake data funded with a cooperative agreement between USGS and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

There is strong evidence from research, field trials and farm experience that organic farming compares favourably to conventional and integrated production with respect to environmental performance20, particular with respect to lower pesticide residues, richer biodiversity, lower nutrient run-off, reduced fossil energy consumption and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

It's complicated, according to Richardson, but the factors would seem to be general raising of sea temperatures, nutrient run-off from coastal pollution and, earlier, the near-removal of herring from the Irish Sea through overfishing (oily fish such as herring like to eat plankton, a good part of which contains baby jellyfish).