Groundwater Management Strategies to Improve Surface Water Quality in an Urbanised Area

Phosphorus is an essential component of modern agriculture. Long-term land application of phosphorous-enriched fertilizers and animal manure leads to phosphorus accumulation in soil that may become susceptible to mobilization via erosion, surface runoff and subsurface leaching. Globally, highly water-soluble phosphorus fertilizers used in agriculture have contributed to eutrophication and hypoxia in surface waters. This paper provides an overview of the literature relevant to the advances in phosphorous management strategies and surface water quality problems in the U.S. Over the past several decades, significant advances have been made to control phosphorus discharge into surface water bodies of the U.S. However, the current use of phosphorus remains inefficient at various stages of its life cycle, and phosphorus continues to remain a widespread problem in many water bodies, including the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Erie. In particular, the Midwestern Corn Belt region of the U.S. is a hotspot of phosphorous fertilization that has resulted in a net positive soil phosphorous balance. The runoff of phosphorous has resulted in dense blooms of toxic, odor-causing phytoplankton that deteriorate water quality. In the past, considerable attention was focused on improving the water quality of freshwater bodies and estuaries by reducing inputs of phosphorus alone. However, new research suggests that strategies controlling the two main nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, are more effective in the management of eutrophication. There is no specific solution to solving phosphorus pollution of water resources; however, sustainable management of phosphorus requires an integrated approach combining at least a reduction in consumption levels, source management, more specific regime-based nutrient criteria, routine soil fertility evaluation and recommendations, transport management, as well as the development of extensive phosphorus recovery and recycling programs.

Download Full-text

Public perception and water quality management

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1996.0295 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 34 (12) ◽

pp. 25-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Margaret A. House

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Surface Water ◽

Quality Management ◽

Environmental Quality ◽

Public Perception ◽

Water Quality Management ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Water Environment ◽

Surface Water Quality ◽

The Impact

The visual and odorous characteristics of the environment tend to be those which have the greatest impact upon the public's assessment of environmental quality. In many cases the public's perception of water quality may be based entirely on these aesthetic aspects of a water environment. Those responsible for the management of surface water quality recognise the need to apply a range of management strategies including a consideration of the public's perception of water quality and the impact of this upon their use of rivers and beaches for recreation and amenity. This paper reports upon the results from a recent investigation into the impact of sewage derived litter on perceived water and environmental quality.

Download Full-text

Assessment of surface water quality in relation to water quality index of tropical lentic environment, Central Gujarat, India

International Journal of Environment ◽

10.3126/ije.v3i1.9952 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 168-176 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hiren B Soni ◽

Sheju Thomas

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Surface Water ◽

Water Quality Index ◽

Quality Index ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Surface Water Quality ◽

Quality Parameters ◽

Total Alkalinity ◽

Total Hardness ◽

Human Consumption

The present study involved the determination of surface water quality index of tropical sacred wetland viz. Dakor Pilgrimage Wetland (DPW), Central Gujarat, India. The main aim of the study was to evaluate various water quality parameters to draw-out the water quality index for an assessment of a tropical aquatic body. The monthly values of pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total alkalinity (TA), Total Hardness (TH), Calcium Hardness (Ca), Magnesium Hardness (Mg), Chloride, Sulphate, Phosphate, Sodium, and Potassium, were analyzed to compute water quality index (WQI). The results manifest that WQI at site 1 (D1) was maximum (161.74), followed by D2 (159.96), and minimum at site 3 (D3) (157.19). The values clearly depicts that quality of water is completely unfit for human consumption unless and until strict and mandatory steps are taken to rejuvenate it. The suggestive measures to improve the overall health of an aquatic body is also discussed herewith alongwith conservation measures and management strategies. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i1.9952 International Journal of Environment Vol.3(1) 2014: 168-176

Download Full-text

Can integrative catchment management mitigate future water quality issues caused by climate change and socio-economic development?

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-21-1593-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 1593-1609 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Mark Honti ◽

Nele Schuwirth ◽

Jörg Rieckermann ◽

Christian Stamm

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Quality ◽

Land Use ◽

Surface Water ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Surface Water Quality ◽

Quality Parameters ◽

Model Structure ◽

Predictive Uncertainty ◽

Socio Economic Development

Abstract. The design and evaluation of solutions for integrated surface water quality management requires an integrated modelling approach. Integrated models have to be comprehensive enough to cover the aspects relevant for management decisions, allowing for mapping of larger-scale processes such as climate change to the regional and local contexts. Besides this, models have to be sufficiently simple and fast to apply proper methods of uncertainty analysis, covering model structure deficits and error propagation through the chain of sub-models. Here, we present a new integrated catchment model satisfying both conditions. The conceptual iWaQa model was developed to support the integrated management of small streams. It can be used to predict traditional water quality parameters, such as nutrients and a wide set of organic micropollutants (plant and material protection products), by considering all major pollutant pathways in urban and agricultural environments. Due to its simplicity, the model allows for a full, propagative analysis of predictive uncertainty, including certain structural and input errors. The usefulness of the model is demonstrated by predicting future surface water quality in a small catchment with mixed land use in the Swiss Plateau. We consider climate change, population growth or decline, socio-economic development, and the implementation of management strategies to tackle urban and agricultural point and non-point sources of pollution. Our results indicate that input and model structure uncertainties are the most influential factors for certain water quality parameters. In these cases model uncertainty is already high for present conditions. Nevertheless, accounting for today's uncertainty makes management fairly robust to the foreseen range of potential changes in the next decades. The assessment of total predictive uncertainty allows for selecting management strategies that show small sensitivity to poorly known boundary conditions. The identification of important sources of uncertainty helps to guide future monitoring efforts and pinpoints key indicators, whose evolution should be closely followed to adapt management. The possible impact of climate change is clearly demonstrated by water quality substantially changing depending on single climate model chains. However, when all climate trajectories are combined, the human land use and management decisions have a larger influence on water quality against a time horizon of 2050 in the study.

Download Full-text

Simulated impacts of climate change and agricultural land use change on surface water quality with and without adaptation management strategies

Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment ◽

10.1016/j.agee.2015.07.019 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 213 ◽

pp. 47-60 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

B. Mehdi ◽

B. Lehner ◽

C. Gombault ◽

A. Michaud ◽

I. Beaudin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Quality ◽

Land Use ◽

Surface Water ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Surface Water Quality ◽

Agricultural Land Use ◽

Impacts Of Climate Change

Download Full-text

Preliminary Assessment Of Surface Water Quality Of Tropical Pilgrimage Wetland Of Central Gujarat, India

International Journal of Environment ◽

10.3126/ije.v2i1.9222 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 202-223 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hiren B Soni ◽

Sheju Thomas

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Surface Water ◽

Preliminary Investigation ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Surface Water Quality ◽

Total Alkalinity ◽

Total Hardness ◽

Physico Chemical ◽

Pond Ecosystem

The present paper highlights the preliminary investigation of physico-chemical characteristics of tropical pilgrimage wetland viz. Dakor Sacred Wetland (DSW), Anand District, Central Gujarat, India. As the existing water body is contaminated with domestic sewage influenced by anthropogenic interventions, an urgent need was felt to evaluate physico-chemical parameters such as Temperature, pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Solids (TS), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Free CO2, Phenolphthalein Alkalinity (PA), Total Alkalinity (TA), Carbonates, Bicarbonates, Total Hardness, Calcium Hardness, Magnesium Hardness, Chloride, Salinity, Sulphate, Phosphate, Nitrate, Sodium, and Potassium. The obtained data were correlated statistically to draw a conclusion about the surface water quality of tropical pilgrimage wetland. Moreover, the results manifested the need and prime necessity to restore the physical, chemical and biological integrity with viable and rigorous restoration and management strategies in order to maintain, preserve, conserve and to avert the ecological imbalance and disturbance in hydro-geo-chemical and hydro-biological cycles, which adversely affect the food chain and food web of the significant pond ecosystem. International Journal of Environment, Volume-2, Issue-1, Sep-Nov 2013, Pages 202-223 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v2i1.9222

Download Full-text