Freshwater - Drivers and pressures (Lithuania)

The main sources of surface water pollution are inadequately-treated domestic waste water and diffuse pollution from the agricultural sector. In the rivers of the Nemunas River Basin District levels of nitric nitrogen from diffuse sources of pollution exceed the levels from point sources of pollution more than 10 times (Fig. 4). Groundwater quality has been significantly influenced by changes in the intensity of land use between five and 10 years ago.

Figure 4:

The volume of surface water abstraction mainly depends on demand in the energy sector where water is used for cooling or driving turbines. The energy sector consumes about 98 % of the total surface water abstracted. Groundwater (around 63 %) is mostly used for economic and household purposes.