Price increases in lime over the past few years have made the work against acidified lakes and watercourses more expensive. Now, the Agency for Marine and Water Management (Hav) is allocating ten million kronor to the county administrative boards so that they can continue the liming work.
"We assess that the contribution constitutes a necessary reinforcement to the liming activities and means that the reductions in lime volumes will be less dramatic," says Mårten Gustafsson, investigator at Hav, in a press release.
Hav is also providing an additional allocation of ten million kronor for the restoration of aquatic environments and two million kronor for measures against invasive species in water. In total, 22 million kronor are being allocated.
Acidification means that the pH value in the water decreases over time. This occurs partly through relatively slow natural processes but also through faster processes caused by human activities, primarily through the combustion of coal and oil. In the late 1970s, state-funded liming of lakes and watercourses began in Sweden to counteract the effect.
