Biologists and scientific agricultural experts have debated a solution to this problem for the last few years. Everything from cover crops that hold nitrogen, improved infield management, rain gardens, to denitrification has been considered. But all of these ideas are either impractical or too expensive. Alternately, there is a new and better solution to this problem. By creating a man-made river system located closely to fields and farms, the run-off water would travel down the river into a man-made reservoir. Here the harmful water would stay out of the oceans and natural rivers and lakes. If cheap enough, a water treatment system could even be put into effect to convert nitrates to nitrogen that would be released into the atmosphere as a gas. All of this combined with improved landscape designs and no till fertilizers that would leave more residues on top ground could solve the fertilizer run-off issue.
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