Investigation of pesticide dynamics in a agricultural basin-the Borabey pond and watershed model

One of the most important ways to improve quality and productivity in agriculture is to eliminite weeds, plant pathogens and insects with pesticides. Although pesticide use can effectively control agricultural quality and quantity, there are also lots of disadvantages due to their intensive usage resulting in degredation products and metabolites which remain in the environment. These products are also refractory compounds which can accumulate in organisms and enter the food chain. Therefore pesticides emanating from agricultural areas are agents that can affect the water quality of surface and grounwater sources. In this study, the presence of pesticides in the water environment of the Borabey Pond and watershed which is situated in the foothills of Bozdağ to the north of Eskişehir is determined by measurements. For this purpose, soil samples from the watershed and sediment and water samples from the pond were taken. In these samples, pesticides were analyzed at regular intervals. Based on the results of the analysis, pesticides currently present in the watershed were modeled assuming the pond as a well-mixed system. The accumulation of pesticides in the watershed was found to be representable by the model.