Influence of Hydrologic Alteration on Sediment, Dissolved Load and Nutrient Downstream Transfer Continuity in a River: Example Lower Brda River Cascade Dams (Poland)

Hydrologic alternation of river systems is an essential factor of human activity. Cascade-dammed waters are characterized by the disturbed outflow of material from the catchment. Changes in sediment, dissolved load and nutrient balance are among the base indicators of water resource monitoring. This research was based on the use of hydrological and water quality data (1984–2017) and the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) method to determine the influence of river regime changes on downstream transfer continuity of sediments and nutrients in the example of the Lower Brda river cascade dams (Poland). Two types of regimes were used: hydropeaking (1984–2000) and run–of–river (2001–2017). Using the IHA method and water quality data, a qualitative and quantitative relationship were demonstrated between changes of regime operation and sediment and nutrient balance. The use of sites above and below the cascade made it possible to determine sediment, dissolved load, and nutrient trapping and removing processes. Studies have shown that changes in operation regime influenced the supply chain and continuity of sediment and nutrient transport in cascade-dammed rivers. The conducted research showed that sustainable management of sediment and nutrient in the alternated catchment helps achieve good ecological status of the water.

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ChessWatch: Observations on a Citizen Science approach to catchment management.

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-17950 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Catherine Heppell ◽

Angela Bartlett ◽

Allen Beechey ◽

Paul Jennings ◽

Helena Souteriou

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Local Community ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Ecological Status ◽

High Water ◽

Quality Data ◽

Catchment Management ◽

Water Quality Data ◽

The Public ◽

Water Catchments

<p>River Chess is a chalk stream in South East England (UK), under unprecedented pressure from over-abstraction, urbanisation and climate change, which currently fails to meet good ecological status. Citizen Scientists have been active in the catchment for 9 years carrying out riverfly monitoring due chiefly to concerns about water quality and poor fish populations. The River Chess is also a pilot river for a new catchment-based &#8216;Smarter Water Catchments&#8217; programme run by the region&#8217;s wastewater treatment company (Thames Water) which aims to work with local communities and regulators to deliver improvements to the river by tackling multiple challenges together. The community-led ChessWatch project is a part of this initiative, and is designed to raise public awareness of threats to the River Chess and involve the public in river management activities using a sensor network as a platform. In 2018 four water quality sensors were installed in the river to provide stakeholders with real-time water quality data (15-minute intervals) to support catchment management activities. The dataset from the project is intended to support future decision-making in the catchment as part of the five-year &#8216;Smarter Water Catchments&#8217; approach.</p><p>Our presentation will review the successes and drawbacks of the ChessWatch project to date and examine the challenges of linking the data collected by the project to policy and practice in a catchment with multiple stakeholder groups. We present the results of a participatory mapping exercise held at local community events to capture the public use of, and concerns for, the river revealing concerns for low flows and water quality issues linked to abstraction and runoff. We show how dissolved oxygen, temperature, turbidity, chlorophyll-a and tryptophan measurements made by the sensors are enabling local stakeholders to better understand the threats to the river arising from urban runoff and changing rainfall patterns, and we examine the challenges of data presentation, sharing and usage in an urbanised catchment with high water demand and multiple conflicting interests.</p>

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The European Collaborative Project SOLUTIONS developed models to provide diagnostic and prognostic capacity and fill data gaps for chemicals of emerging concern

Environmental Sciences Europe ◽

10.1186/s12302-019-0248-3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Jos van Gils ◽

Leo Posthuma ◽

Ian T. Cousins ◽

Claudia Lindim ◽

Dick de Zwart ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Ecological Status ◽

Real Life ◽

Water Quality Monitoring ◽

Quality Monitoring ◽

System Level ◽

Quality Data ◽

Chemical Pollution ◽

Concentration Data ◽

Water Quality Data

Abstract The European Union Water Framework Directives aims at achieving good ecological status in member states’ water bodies. Insufficient ecological status could be the result of different interacting stressors, among them the presence of many thousands of chemicals. The diagnosis of the likelihood that these chemicals negatively affect the ecological status of surface waters or human health, and the subsequent development of abatement measures usually relies on water quality monitoring. This gives an incomplete picture of chemicals’ contamination, due to the limited number of monitoring stations, samples and substances. Information gaps thus limit the possibilities to protect against and effectively manage chemicals in aquatic ecosystems. The EU FP7 SOLUTIONS project has developed and validated a collection of integrated models (“Model Train”) to increase our understanding of issues related to emerging chemicals in Europe’s river basins and to complement information and knowledge derived from field data. Unlike pre-existing models, the Model Train is suitable to model mixtures of thousands of chemicals, to better approach a “real-life” mixture exposure situation. It can also be used to model new chemicals at a stage where not much is known about them. The application of these models on a European scale provides temporally and spatially variable concentration data to fill gaps in the space, time and substance domains left open by water quality monitoring, and it provides homogeneous data across Europe where water quality data from monitoring are missing. Thus, it helps to avoid overlooking candidate chemicals and possible hot spots for management intervention. The application of the SOLUTIONS Model Train on a European scale presents a relevant line of evidence for water system level prognostic and diagnostic impact assessment related to chemical pollution. The application supports the design of cost-effective programmes of measures by helping to identify the most affected sites and the responsible substances, by evaluating alternative abatement options and by exploring the consequences of future trends.

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Water quality assessment of the Montenegrin part of the Lim river using the Serbian water quality index (SWQI)

Zbornik radova - Geografski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu ◽

10.5937/zrgfub2169119v ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 119-130

Author(s):

Filip Vujović ◽

Mladen Delić ◽

Darko Smolović

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Water Quality Index ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Quality Index ◽

Ecological Status ◽

Quality Data ◽

Coliform Bacteria ◽

Index Number ◽

Water Quality Data ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages

The paper analyzes the water quality of the Montenegrin part of the Lim River using the Serbian Water Quality Index (SWQI) method. This method uses ten physical, chemical, and microbiological parameters (temperature, pH value, electrical conductivity, oxygen saturation, BOD5 , suspended solids, total nitrogen oxides, orthophosphates, ammonium, coliform bacteria) and summarizes them in a water quality index number. Data from the Institute of Hydrometeorology and Seismology of Montenegro (IHMS) from the Annual Reports on Water Quality from 2010 to 2018 were used to assess water quality. The results of this research, according to SWQI, show that in the upper course of the Montenegrin part of the Lim, at the control stations Plav and Andrijevica, water has excellent quality. Downstream, passing through the urban areas of Berane and Bijelo Polje at the control stations Skakavac, Zaton, Bijelo Polje, Dobrakovo, the water quality enters the class of very good and good quality. The results of average SWQI values at all control stations for the research period of eight years indicate that the quality in the Montenegrin part of the Lim River can be classified as very good (87). The paper confirms the importance of the SWQI as a useful method for presenting water quality data despite its many advantages and disadvantages. In order to achieve relevant results and the actual ecological status of the river, it is necessary to apply the Water Quality Index (WQI), which includes inorganic parameters.

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Synergy between Satellite Altimetry and Optical Water Quality Data towards Improved Estimation of Lakes Ecological Status

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13040770 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 770

Author(s):

Ave Ansper-Toomsalu ◽

Krista Alikas ◽

Karina Nielsen ◽

Lea Tuvikene ◽

Kersti Kangro

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

European Union ◽

Water Level ◽

Satellite Data ◽

Ecological Status ◽

Quality Data ◽

Altimetry Data ◽

Radar Altimeter ◽

Water Quality Data

European countries are obligated to monitor and estimate ecological status of lakes under European Union Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) for sustainable lakes’ ecosystems in the future. In large and shallow lakes, physical, chemical, and biological water quality parameters are influenced by the high natural variability of water level, exceeding anthropogenic variability, and causing large uncertainty to the assessment of ecological status. Correction of metric values used for the assessment of ecological status for the effect of natural water level fluctuation reduces the signal-to-noise ratio in data and decreases the uncertainty of the status estimate. Here we have explored the potential to create synergy between optical and altimetry data for more accurate estimation of ecological status class of lakes. We have combined data from Sentinel-3 Synthetic Aperture Radar Altimeter and Cryosat-2 SAR Interferometric Radar Altimeter to derive water level estimations in order to apply corrections for chlorophyll a, phytoplankton biomass, and Secchi disc depth estimations from Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Color Instrument data. Long-term in situ data was used to develop the methodology for the correction of water quality data for the effects of water level applicable on the satellite data. The study shows suitability and potential to combine optical and altimetry data to support in situ measurements and thereby support lake monitoring and management. Combination of two different types of satellite data from the continuous Copernicus program will advance the monitoring of lakes and improves the estimation of ecological status under European Union Water Framework Directive.

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Use of Ambient Water Quality Data to Refine Emission Estimates in the Danube Basin

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1999.0499 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 40 (10) ◽

pp. 35-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A. Clement ◽

K. Buzás

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Nutrient Balance ◽

Estimation Method ◽

Quality Data ◽

Flow Data ◽

Mean Flow ◽

Danube Basin ◽

Balance Study ◽

Water Quality Data

In the frame of an EU/Phare project nutrient balances of the Danube countries were studied. As an element of the procedure, N and P emissions to surface waters were estimated on various scales. The “immission” loads computed from water quality and flow data were used to refine these estimates. The evaluation indicated the significant role of uncertainties related to scarce observations typical for many countries in the Danube Basin. To obtain the error of annual nutrient load estimates statistical analyses of a number of Hungarian rivers (in the 2 m3/s - 2000 m3/s mean flow range) were performed. Both, analytical expressions of sampling theory and Monte Carlo simulations were used. The ratio estimate and an analysis of the relation of errors of the annual mean flow and the load, resp. were used to take advantage of the additional information of flow data in comparison to water quality. An empirical error function for the range of rivers considered was derived. The effort led to useful results in relation to the selection of the estimation method, the role of sampling frequency and size of the catchment. Conclusions were also drawn on estimation errors of loads of first order tributaries of the Danube and their use in the frame of a nutrient balance study.

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