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Two pollutants - total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) - that are significant in aquatic environments are included on the NPI substance list. The surface waters of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) - Australia's breadbasket - have exhibited toxic blue-green algal blooms that in part are symptomatic of excessive levels of these substances (MDBMC,1994). The MDB's selection as a priority catchment by the NPI for evaluating TN and TP emissions is in part because of its agricultural importance and environmental susceptibility, as well as the availability of relevant data.
The object of this report is to compile an inventory of aggregated TN and TP emissions in the MDB catchment, excluding those point sources that are required to report directly to the NPI. More specifically it will include a description of the approach and techniques that can, as much as possible, be consistently and appropriately applied across the MDB and elsewhere to estimate aggregated TP and TN emissions. This would form a generic 'Methods Manual' for the determination of nutrient emissions for other large catchments.
First published in June 2000
ISBN: 0 642 54689 4
National Pollutant Inventory
Environment Australia
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