@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ With the rapid and sustained increase in population growth in the last 50 years,
A major component in such fertilizers is nitrates. With this conventional intensification, accompanied by depleted soil from monocropping to sustain food and fodder demand, a large portion of fertilizer is unabsorbable. Their runoff into water bodies leads to eutrophication as the nitrates provide nutrients for algae, facilitating bloom (Figure 5). As such, the Netherlands’ position as a global agricultural powerhouse, with 54% of its surface area used as farmland, has led it to develop the worst water quality in the EU (Fraters et al., 2021). Rainfall and irrigation have caused runoff from agricultural areas to spread through the highly interconnected river system and into the Dutch coastline. This process is especially heightened in the Netherlands as major agricultural provinces, such as Noord-Brabant, Gelderland and Zuid-Holland in the country are are characterized by a highly interconnected watershed network, where rivers, streams, and tributaries eventually discharge into the sea. This creates a direct pathway for nutrient runoff from farmlands into marine ecosystems.
(Ærtebjerg et al., 2001; Groendo, 2018)
**Figure 4.** A map of Dutch provinces (Wikipedia, 2010).
