scholarly journals Comparing nutrient reference concentrations in Nordic countries with focus on lowland rivers

AMBIO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 1771-1783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Skarbøvik ◽  
Jukka Aroviita ◽  
Jens Fölster ◽  
Anne Lyche Solheim ◽  
Katarina Kyllmar ◽  
...  

Abstract Reference conditions of water bodies are defined as the natural or minimal anthropogenically disturbed state. We compared the methods for determining total phosphorus and total nitrogen concentrations in rivers in Finland, Norway and Sweden as well as the established reference conditions and evaluated the possibility for transfer and harmonisation of methods. We found that both methods and values differed, especially for lowland rivers with a high proportion of agriculture in the catchment. Since Denmark has not yet set reference conditions for rivers, two of the Nordic methods were tested for Danish conditions. We conclude that some of the established methods are promising but that further development is required. We moreover argue that harmonisation of reference conditions is needed to obtain common benchmarks for assessing the impacts of current and future land use changes on water quality.

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 656-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Hacke Ribeiro ◽  
Nerilde Favaretto ◽  
Jeferson Dieckow ◽  
Luiz Cláudio de Paula Souza ◽  
Jean Paolo Gomes Minella ◽  
...  

Water degradation is strongly related to agricultural activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of land use and some environmental components on surface water quality in the Campestre catchment, located in Colombo, state of Parana, Brazil. Physical and chemical attributes were analyzed (total nitrogen, ammonium, nitrate, total phosphorus, electrical conductivity, pH, temperature, turbidity, total solids, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen). Monthly samples of the river water were taken over one year at eight monitoring sites, distributed over three sub-basins. Overall, water quality was worse in the sub-basin with a higher percentage of agriculture, and was also affected by a lower percentage of native forest and permanent preservation area, and a larger drainage area. Water quality was also negatively affected by the presence of agriculture in the riparian zone. In the summer season, probably due to higher rainfall and intensive soil use, a higher concentration of total nitrogen and particulate nitrogen was observed, as well as higher electrical conductivity, pH and turbidity. All attributes, except for total phosphorus, were in compliance with Brazilian Conama Resolution Nº 357/2005 for freshwater class 1. However, it should be noted that these results referred to the base flow and did not represent a discharge condition since most of the water samples were not collected at or near the rainfall event.


Author(s):  
Min Pang ◽  
Weiwei Song ◽  
Yuan Liu ◽  
Yong Pang

After years of water environment improvement, China’s water quality has improved to some extent in recent years. However, different water areas have different characteristics of water pollution. The paper used mathematical models to investigate the influence of different parameters on the water quality of Xuanwu Lake, China. The predominant focus was on the nutrients concentration due to changing the amount of pollutants, degradation coefficient, water diversion discharge and diffusion coefficient. The results showed that the amount of pollutants had the most significant impact, followed by the degradation coefficient. The total phosphorus and total nitrogen concentrations of Xuanwu Lake increased with the increase of the amount of pollutants. The water quality of Xuanwu Lake decreased significantly with the increase of degradation coefficient. Increasing the water diversion discharge will not only make a big difference in water quality, but it will also worsen the water quality. The effect of the amount of pollutants on Xuanwu Lake total phosphorus and total nitrogen is 4.1 and 5.7 times that of water diversion discharge. The influence of total phosphorus and total nitrogen in the degradation coefficient scheme is 3.5 and 6.2 times that of the water diversion discharge scheme. The diffusion coefficient has almost no effect on the water quality of Xuanwu Lake. From the practical difficulty and implementation effect of water environment improvement, the order of water quality improvement effect from good to bad is as follows: the amount of pollutants scheme, degradation coefficient scheme, water diversion scheme, diffusion coefficient scheme. Under the circumstance of limited water diversion, the lake will effectively improve the water quality. Reducing the discharge of pollutants is the fundamental measure to control water environment problems, and water diversion is an auxiliary measure to improve the water ecology. It will become a trend to combine the reduction of pollutant discharge and water transfer for water environment improvement. This paper is of significance for improving the water quality of Xuanwu Lake, and it also provides a scientific method for water environment improvement of water diversion projects.


Our Nature ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-54
Author(s):  
Ram Bhajan Mandal ◽  
Sunila Rai ◽  
Madhav Kumar Shrestha ◽  
Dilip Kumar Jha ◽  
Narayan Prasad Pandit

An experiment was carried to assess the effect of red algal bloom on growth and production of carp, water quality and profit from carp for 120 days at Aquaculture Farm of Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan. The experiment included two treatments: carp polyculture in non-red pond and carp polyculture in red pond with algal bloom each with three replicates. Carp fingerlings were stocked at 1 fish/m2 and fed with pellet containing 24% CP at 3% body weight. Net yield of rohu was found significantly higher (p<0.05) in non-red ponds (0.38±0.01 t ha-1) than red ponds (0.24±0.05 t ha-1). Survival of rohu (84.9±1.4%), bighead (95.2±2.0%) and mrigal (88.1±14.4%) were also significantly higher (p<0.05) in non-red ponds than red ponds. Red algal bloom affected DO, nitrate and chlorophyll-a, nitrite, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total dissolved solids and conductivity. However, overall carp production and profit from carp remained unaffected.


2021 ◽  
Vol 776 ◽  
pp. 146034
Author(s):  
Cira Buonocore ◽  
Juan Jesús Gomiz Pascual ◽  
María Luisa Pérez Cayeiro ◽  
Rafael Mañanes Salinas ◽  
Miguel Bruno Mejías

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1948
Author(s):  
Flavia Tromboni ◽  
Thomas E. Dilts ◽  
Sarah E. Null ◽  
Sapana Lohani ◽  
Peng Bun Ngor ◽  
...  

Establishing reference conditions in rivers is important to understand environmental change and protect ecosystem integrity. Ranked third globally for fish biodiversity, the Mekong River has the world’s largest inland fishery providing livelihoods, food security, and protein to the local population. It is therefore of paramount importance to maintain the water quality and biotic integrity of this ecosystem. We analyzed land use impacts on water quality constituents (TSS, TN, TP, DO, NO3−, NH4+, PO43−) in the Lower Mekong Basin. We then used a best-model regression approach with anthropogenic land-use as independent variables and water quality parameters as the dependent variables, to define reference conditions in the absence of human activities (corresponding to the intercept value). From 2000–2017, the population and the percentage of crop, rice, and plantation land cover increased, while there was a decrease in upland forest and flooded forest. Agriculture, urbanization, and population density were associated with decreasing water quality health in the Lower Mekong Basin. In several sites, Thailand and Laos had higher TN, NO3−, and NH4+ concentrations compared to reference conditions, while Cambodia had higher TP values than reference conditions, showing water quality degradation. TSS was higher than reference conditions in the dry season in Cambodia, but was lower than reference values in the wet season in Thailand and Laos. This study shows how deforestation from agriculture conversion and increasing urbanization pressure causes water quality decline in the Lower Mekong Basin, and provides a first characterization of reference water quality conditions for the Lower Mekong River and its tributaries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 933 (1) ◽  
pp. 012010
Author(s):  
S A Nurhayati ◽  
M Marselina ◽  
A Sabar

Abstract Increasing population growth is one of the impacts of the growth of a city or district in an area. This also happened in the Cimahi watershed area. As the population grows, so does the need for land which increases the land-use change in the Cimahi watershed. Land-use changes will affect the surrounding environment and one of them is the river, especially river water quality. As a watershed area, there is one main river that is the source of life as well as the Cimahi watershed, whose main river is the Cimahi River. The purpose of this study was calculated the relationship between land-use change in the Cimahi watershed and the water quality parameters of the Cimahi River. The correlation between the two was calculated using Pearson correlation. Water quality parameters can be seen based on BOD and DO values. BOD and DO values are the opposite because good water quality has high DO values and low BOD values. The correlation between land-use change and BOD was 0.328 is in the area of settlements area. In contrast, to DO values, an increase in settlements/industrial zones will further reduce DO values so that both have a negative correlation, which is indicated by a value of -0,535. The correlation between settlements with pH and temperature values is 0.664 and 0.812. While the correlation between settlements with TSS and TDS values are 0.333 and 0.529, respectively. In this study, it can be seen that there is a relationship between the decline in water quality and changes in land use.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 19-31
Author(s):  
Christopher Buzzelli ◽  
Zhiqiang Chen ◽  
Peter Doering ◽  
Amanda Kahn

Abstract Coastal water bodies are impacted by watershed alterations, increased population density, modifications to inlets and shorelines, climatic periodicity, and increases in external material loads. Estuaries such as Lake Worth Lagoon (LWL) in south Florida possess all these attributes. The LWL watershed extends from the southeastern portion of Lake Okeechobee through Palm Beach County, where it meets the lagoon. Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management recognizes the social and ecological importance of the ~36 km lagoon and aims to maintain suitable water and habitat quality for all stakeholders. Recent declines and shifts of seagrass distribution along the lagoon prompted a step toward better understanding the water quality patterns of the system. In support of these efforts, this study assessed bathymetry, inflow, flushing, and water quality attributes (chlorophyll a, salinity, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total suspended solids, turbidity) using data collected along a series of 14 midlagoon stations from 2007 to 2015. Salinity in the North Segment was higher and less variable because of proximity to Palm Beach Inlet. Although concentrations of chlorophyll a, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus correlated with freshwater inflow, turbidity and total suspended solids were not. Fast flushing of the lagoon on a scale of days likely precludes water quality issues common to many estuaries with higher resident times. However, the combination of landscape-scale water management, a shoreline that is almost 70% modified by hard structures, and changes in essential nearshore habitats, introduces new levels of uncertainty to both the understanding and management of LWL. From this study, increased knowledge of relationships among water quality parameters and their spatial and temporal variability in LWL provides points of reference from which targeted studies can be developed to explore links between environmental parameters and responses of key organisms in this unique system.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pankaj Kumar ◽  
Rajarshi Dasgupta ◽  
Brian Johnson ◽  
Chitresh Saraswat ◽  
Mrittika Basu ◽  
...  

Rapid changes in land use and land cover pattern have exerted an irreversible change on different natural resources, and water resources in particular, throughout the world. Khambhat City, located in the Western coastal plain of India, is witnessing a rapid expansion of human settlements, as well as agricultural and industrial activities. This development has led to a massive increase in groundwater use (the only source of potable water in the area), brought about significant changes to land management practices (e.g., increased fertilizer use), and resulted in much greater amounts of household and industrial waste. To better understand the impacts of this development on the local groundwater, this study investigated the relationship between groundwater quality change and land use change over the 2001–2011 period; a time during which rapid development occurred. Water quality measurements from 66 groundwater sampling wells were analyzed for the years 2001 and 2011, and two water quality indicators (NO3− and Cl− concentration) were mapped and correlated against the changes in land use. Our results indicated that the groundwater quality has deteriorated, with both nitrate (NO3−) and chloride (Cl−) levels being elevated significantly. Contour maps of NO3− and Cl− were compared with the land use maps for 2001 and 2011, respectively, to identify the impact of land use changes on water quality. Zonal statistics suggested that conversion from barren land to agricultural land had the most significant negative impact on water quality, demonstrating a positive correlation with accelerated levels of both NO3− and Cl−. The amount of influence of the different land use categories on NO3− increase was, in order, agriculture > bare land > lake > marshland > built-up > river. Whereas, for higher concentration of Cl− in the groundwater, the order of influence of the different land use categories was marshland > built-up > agriculture > bare land > lake > river. This study will help policy planners and decision makers to understand the trend of groundwater development and hence to take timely mitigation measures for its sustainable management.


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