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Tagus Vulnerable Zone (TVZ) to Nitrates (ISA)

Demonstration Site – Portugal (Tagus Nitrate Vulnerable Zone)

Sustainable management of water resources and fertilizers in intensive agriculture
The Portuguese demonstration site focuses on the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone of the Tagus basin (TVZ), a strategic area under pressure from intensive agriculture, aiming to improve groundwater quality and optimize fertilizer and water use.

Ongoing activities:

  • Monitoring groundwater levels and nitrate concentrations.
  • Development and application of a soil unsaturated zone monitoring protocol.
  • Indirect assessment of irrigation withdrawals from agricultural wells.
    Trials with biofertilizers on maize: impacts on yield, growth, and groundwater quality.
  • Creation of continuously updated databases on soil, climate, and groundwater.
  • Stakeholder involvement: mapping and co-design of monitoring activities for the Mondego river basin.

Planned activities (starting August 2025):

  • Official launch of the monitoring program.
  • Assessment of major pollutants and agricultural practices.
  • Study of farmers’ willingness to change.
  • Data collection and analysis in collaboration with local actors.
  • Dissemination of results and sharing of best practices.

Tools and innovations planned:

  • Integration of physically based models and machine learning.
  • Use of weather forecasts to optimize irrigation scheduling.
  • Evaluation of good management practices at farm and watershed scales.

Main objectives:

  • Reduce nitrate loads in groundwater.
  • Optimize agricultural practices to balance productivity and sustainability.
  • Promote a participatory, data-driven approach to environmental management.
D.G.2 Nordic: explore novel approaches that especially account for significant or extreme weather events (precipitation and temperature) in reducing sediment, nutrients, and pesticide losses under different climatic regimes and agricultural systems in the Nordic region (including the Baltic sea).
D.G.2 Nordic: explore novel approaches that especially account for significant or extreme weather events (precipitation and temperature) in reducing sediment, nutrients, and pesticide losses under different climatic regimes and agricultural systems in the Nordic region (including the Baltic sea).
D.G.7.: improve smart agriculture novel solutions towards irrigation water management and nitrogen leaching mitigation
D.G.6.: co-develop, improve, adapt, and test current and novel agricultural (soil, water, nutrient) management technologies and solutions, evolve monitoring technologies and integrated solutions, and adapt, calibrate, and validate the developed tools, models, and systems
D.G.4.: create a testbed for the innovative solutions and Integrate the network of experimental agricultural watersheds of the Government of Navarra.
D.G.5.: develop a monitoring system regarding the ground and surface water status in different scenarios and identify, adapt and evaluate effective agronomical practices so that the mitigation strategies can be efficiently designed and applied
D.G.3: test and generate novel insights for zero pollution in Ukraine under climate change in the post-war recovery.
D.G.1. East-Med: Identify pathways to transform state-of-the-art solutions into traditional practices for sustainable agriculture and water conservation in water-scarce coastal Mediterranean basins facing multiple challenges.
DG1 East-Med : Identify pathways to transform state-of-the-art solutions into traditional practices for sustainable agriculture and water conservation in water-scarce coastal Mediterranean basins facing multiple challenges.
DG1 East-Med : Identify pathways to transform state-of-the-art solutions into traditional practices for sustainable agriculture and water conservation in water-scarce coastal Mediterranean basins facing multiple challenges.