Public preferences for water quality improvements: implications for the implementation of the EC Water Framework Directive in Scotland

Water Policy ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 645-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Glenk ◽  
Manuel Lago ◽  
Dominic Moran
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
National Level ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Quality Improvements ◽  
Geographical Differences ◽  
Public Preferences ◽  
River Basin District ◽  
State Water ◽  
Market Benefits

The EC Water Framework Directive (WFD) sets ambitious quality targets for member state water bodies by 2015. The provisions are being transposed predominantly using a cost-effectiveness criterion, which raises questions about the relative balance of costs [of reaching good status (GS)] and corresponding (non-)market benefits or the economic efficiency of the legislation. This study provides an insight into public perceptions of water quality improvements based on an application of national characterisation data on the state of the water environment in Scotland. A choice experiment approach is used to quantify non-market benefits of achieving GS across Scottish rivers and lochs over varying timescales and different geographical levels, with the aim of revealing willingness-to-pay data that is specifically relevant for WFD implementation. We find that the benefits of implementing the WFD are substantial. Results show that geographical differences in preferences for national improvements in the river and loch water quality in Scotland exist, both in terms of magnitudes of benefit estimates and time preferences for improvements. These differences need to be taken into account in analyses at the river basin district or national level in order to support policy options for the implementation of the WFD across the country.

scholarly journals River Water Quality: Who Cares, How Much and Why?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danyel Hampson ◽  
Silvia Ferrini ◽  
Dan Rigby ◽  
Ian J. Bateman
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
River Water ◽  
Stated Preference ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Ecological Quality ◽  
Quality Improvements ◽  
River Recreation ◽  
Market Benefits

One important motivation for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive is the creation of non-market environmental benefits such as improved ecological quality, or greater opportunities for open-access river recreation via microbial pollution remediation. Pollution sources impacting on ecological or recreational water quality can be uncorrelated but non-market benefits arising from riverine improvements are typically conflated within benefit valuation studies. Using stated preference choice experiments, we seek to disaggregate these sources of value for different river users, thereby allowing decision makers to understand the consequences of adopting alternative investment strategies. Our results suggest anglers derive greater value from improvements to the ecological quality of river water, in contrast to swimmers and rowers for whom greater value is gained from improvements to recreational quality. We also find three distinct groups of respondents: a majority preferring ecological over recreational improvements, a substantial minority holding opposing preference orderings and a small proportion expressing relatively low values for either form of river quality enhancement. As such, this research demonstrates that the non-market benefits which may accrue from different types of water quality improvements are nuanced in terms of their potential beneficiaries and, by inference, their overall value and policy implications.

MEASURES FOR ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION IN ENCLOSED COASTAL SEAS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keizo Negi ◽  
Keizo Negi ◽  
Takuya Ishikawa ◽  
Takuya Ishikawa ◽  
Kenichiro Iba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Pollution ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Red Tide ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Quality Standard ◽  
Tokyo Bay ◽  
View Point ◽  
High Concentration

Japan experienced serious water pollution during the period of high economic growth in 1960s. It was also the period that we had such damages to human health, fishery and living conditions due to red tide as much of chemicals, organic materials and the like flowing into the seas along the growing population and industries in the coastal areas. Notable in those days was the issues of environment conservation in the enclosed coastal seas where pollutants were prone to accumulate inside due to low level of water circulation, resulting in the issues including red tide and oxygen-deficient water mass. In responding to these issues, we implemented countermeasures like effluent control with the Water Pollution Control Law and improvement/expansion of sewage facilities. In the extensive enclosed coastal seas of Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay and the Seto Inland Sea, the three areas of high concentration of population, we implemented water quality total reduction in seven terms from 1979, reducing the total quantities of pollutant load of COD, TN and TP. Sea water quality hence has been on an improvement trend as a whole along the steady reduction of pollutants from the land. We however recognize that there are differences in improvement by sea area such as red tide and oxygen-deficient water mass continue to occur in some areas. Meanwhile, it has been pointed out that bio-diversity and bio-productivity should be secured through conservation/creation of tidal flats and seaweed beds in the view point of “Bountiful Sea” To work at these challenges, through the studies depending on the circumstances of the water environment in the enclosed coastal seas, we composed “The Policy of Desirable State of 8th TPLCS” in 2015. We have also added the sediment DO into the water quality standard related to the life-environmental items in view of the preservation of aquatic creatures in the enclosed water areas. Important from now on, along the Policy, is to proceed with necessary measures to improve water quality with good considerations of differences by area in the view point of “Beautiful and bountiful Sea”.

Living with water: at the cross-roads of change

1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 393-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joost de Jong ◽  
Peter T. J. C. van Rooy ◽  
S. Harry Hosper
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Integrated Water Management ◽  
Practical Action ◽  
The People ◽  
Global Perception ◽  
Local Water ◽  
Water Quality Deterioration ◽  
The Way

Until the last two decades, the global perception of how to control our various water bodies was remarkably similar – water management was organised on a sectoral basis, as it always had been. It was only in the 1970s that the people actually responsible for implementing water management began to become aware of the serious implications of such an approach: water quality deterioration, desiccation and an alarming loss of the flora and fauna that characterised their local water environment. It was a growing awareness that led to the formation of the concept of integrated water management, a concept almost universally accepted today as the way forward. However, despite the fact that few dispute the validity of the concept, a number of obstacles remain before this theoretical agreement can be transformed into practical action. Three main bottlenecks stand in the way of implementation: institutional, communicational and socio-political. Whilst solutions to these are available, the key question still to be answered is whether society is really prepared to accept the consequent changes in the way we live that will result from putting the theory of integrated water management into practice. It was this issue that dominated the “Living with water” conference held in Amsterdam in September 1994. The following is a summary of the discussions held there and the various papers that were submitted.

Formulating biossay data of chemicals and environmental water

2000 ◽  
Vol 42 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 115-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Shoji ◽  
A. Sakoda ◽  
Y. Sakai ◽  
M. Suzuki
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Low Density Lipoprotein ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Density Lipoprotein ◽  
Environmental Water ◽  
Toxicity Data ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Environmental Waters ◽  
Bodies Of Water

The quality of environmental waters such as rivers is often deteriorated by various kinds of trace and unidentified chemicals despite the recent development of sewage systems and wastewater treatment technologies. In addition to contamination by particular toxicants, complex toxicity due to multi-component chemicals could be much more serious. The environmental situation in bodies of water in Japan led us to apply bioassays for monitoring the water quality of environmental waters in order to express the direct and potential toxicity to human beings and ecosystems rather than determinating concentrations of particular chemicals. However, problems arose from the fact that bioassays for pharmaceutical purposes generally required complicated, time-consuming, expert procedures. Also, a methodology for feedback of the resultant toxicity data to water environment management has not been established yet. To this end, we developed a novel bioassay based on the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) uptake activity of human hepatoblastoma cells. The assay enabled us to directly detect the toxicity of environmental waters within 4 hours of exposure. This is a significantly quick and easy procedure as compared to that of conventional bioassays. The toxicity data for 255 selected chemicals and environmental waters obtained by this method were organized by a mathematical equation in order to make those data much more effectively and practically useful to the management of environmental waters. Our methodology represents a promising example of applying bioassays to monitor environmental water quality and generating potential solutions to the toxicity problems encountered.

Study on Water Quality Improvement of Streams in Baoan District, Shenzhen City, China

2011 ◽  
Vol 347-353 ◽  
pp. 1902-1905
Author(s):  
Hua Li You
Keyword(s):  
Waste Water ◽  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Water Discharge ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Polluted Water ◽  
Integrated Analysis ◽  
Shenzhen City

Water is the basis of natural resources and strategic economic resources.Deteriorated water environment of streams in Shenzhen city could have a great impact on ecological safety, people's health,and economic development.Based on the data of field observation and Remote sensing (RS) image,integrated analysis of the water degradation causes,and the changes of biochemical oxygen demand in five days(BOD5）concentration by mathematical model were carried out,which is on basis of percentage of waste water disposal,fresh water transformation,and harbor excavation, respectively.The results show that degradation causes of water quality were resulted from waste water discharge, harbor construction,and ecological environment damage, which could lead to slowly water exchange. Accordingly,the pollution can be easily to store in the bay,which result in water quality changes.The most important improved countermeasure is the control of waste water, which could be had a great effectiveness to decrease pollution.In addition, fresh water must be supplied after polluted water was cut off,which can be better improvement for water quality.This would be extreme improvement for hydrological dynamics due to 15m harbor excavation,which can significantly reduce BOD5 concentration.The innovation points of this paper is to mathematical model,which is based on the basis of qualitative analysis.

scholarly journals How well did Norwegian general practice prepare to address the COVID-19 pandemic?

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. e000512
Author(s):  
Ingvild Vatten Alsnes ◽  
Morten Munkvik ◽  
W Dana Flanders ◽  
Nicolas Øyane
Keyword(s):  
General Practice ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Home Page ◽  
Quality Improvements ◽  
Geographical Differences ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Isolation Room ◽  
Improvement Measures ◽  
The Mean

ObjectivesWe aimed to describe the quality improvement measures made by Norwegian general practice (GP) during the COVID-19 pandemic, evaluate the differences in quality improvements based on region and assess the combinations of actions taken.DesignDescriptive study.SettingParticipants were included after taking part in an online quality improvement COVID-19 course for Norwegian GPs in April 2020. The participants reported whether internal and external measures were in place: COVID-19 sign on entrance, updated home page, access to video consultations and/or electronic written consultations, home office solutions, separate working teams, preparedness for home visits, isolation rooms, knowledge on decontamination, access to sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 clinics.ParticipantsOne hundred GP offices were included. The mean number of general practitioners per office was 5.63.ResultsMore than 80% of practices had the following preparedness measures: COVID-19 sign on entrance, updated home page, COVID-19 clinic in the municipality, video and written electronic consultations, knowledge on how to use PPE, and home office solutions for general practitioners. Less than 50% had both PPE and knowledge of decontamination. Lack of PPE was reported by 37%, and 34% reported neither sufficient PPE nor a dedicated COVID-19 clinic. 15% reported that they had an isolation room, but not enough PPE. There were no geographical differences.ConclusionsNorwegian GPs in this study implemented many quality improvements to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the largest potentials for improvement seem to be securing sufficient supply of PPE and establishing an isolation room at their practices.

scholarly journals Water Quality Assessments for Urban Water Environment

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1686
Author(s):  
Pankaj Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Freshwater Resources ◽  
Intrinsic Connection ◽  
Quality Assessments

Since ages, human societies have witnessed the intrinsic connection between their all-encompassing development and freshwater resources [...]

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