Joint actions for more efficient management of common groundwater resources in Estonia and Latvia

<p>European water policy requires to carry out nine tests for characterisation of groundwater bodies status, including the development of joint transboundary groundwater management principles. </p><p>Gauja/Koiva and Salaca/Salatsi Rivers have a joint, Estonian/Latvian transboundary water cycle, including the groundwater recharge and discharge cycling. Despite the fact that groundwater is the only drinking water source in Gauja/Koiva and Salaca/Salatsi River basins and ensures the existence of many groundwater dependent ecosystems, the overall awareness of integrated cross-border management practice is still poorly understood and poorly linked in implementation of concrete groundwater protection actions. </p><p>Taking into account the above-mentioned aspects, Latvian and Estonian groundwater and groundwater dependent ecosystems specialists from research, nature protection and groundwater resources management institutions have joined forces in the project funded by the Interreg Estonia-Latvia program: "Joint actions for more efficient management of common groundwater resources in Estonia and Latvia "(WaterAct).</p><p>The ongoing Est-Lat project “WaterAct” (2020–2022) of joint transboundary groundwater management project organised into the three activity blocks: (1) The capacity building of the joint groundwater transboundary management through exchange of knowledge and best management practices between project partners and key experts in other European Union countries; (2) Assessment of groundwater resources in transboundary River basins to improve groundwater management in accordance with valid international directives; (3) Dissemination and outreach activities to increase the overall awareness of ecosystems friendly groundwater management and protection of key actors working with groundwater assessments and locals. </p><p>Firstly, the joint cross-boundary principles of identification and status assessment of shared groundwater bodies will be developed. Adaptation of existing knowledge, cross-boundary harmonization and development of needed methodologies will be used. </p><p>Secondly, the joint cross-boundary assessment principles will be implemented into groundwater resources management. The status assessment of shared groundwater bodies will be carried out in close cooperation between project partners to create materials necessary for the development of last River Basin Management Plans (2022-2027), required by the Water Framework Directive and Groundwater Directive.</p><p>Thirdly, the dissemination of project results will be carried out (1) by compilation of Guidelines of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems for different levels and fields of decision making and experts, (2) by compilation of Spring Water Monitoring Guide for Volunteers and starting volunteer monitoring. For volunteer monitoring, a special web-based map application will be developed (allikad.info). </p><p> </p><p>The project of “Joint actions for more efficient management of common groundwater resources” (WaterAct, Est-Lat155) funded by ERDF Interreg Estonia-Latvia cooperation programme.</p>

Citizen Scientists Showed a Four-Fold Increase of Lynx Numbers in Lithuania

By the early 2000s, Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) were nearly extirpated in Lithuania. To determine their status, we used snow-track counts in 2006–2012 and volunteer monitoring in 1999–2005 and 2015–2018. Using simple questionnaires, we collected incidental observations from hunters, foresters, and other interested citizens to estimate lynx distribution, abundance and extent of breeding. Citizen scientists provided 206 reports of 278 individual lynx that suggested expanding lynx distributions in central, western, southwestern, and southern parts of Lithuania. A decrease in range fragmentation has also been observed since 2015. Nationwide, the lynx population quadrupled from 2010 to 162 individuals in 2018. The number of breeding individuals reported was just seven in both 2007 and 2008, limited to two forests in the very north and central part of the country. This increased to 46 in 2015–2018. Our results indicate that the lynx population in Lithuania has increased and its conservation status should be reconsidered.

Volunteer monitoring as a focus for community engagement in water management in Aotearoa-New Zealand: review and prospects

This article overviews community-based water monitoring (CBWM) in Aotearoa-New Zealand (NZ). CBWM was strongly boosted in NZ around 2000 by the development of the Stream Health Monitoring and Assessment Kit (SHMAK) and the Wai Care community initiative. Reform of freshwater management in NZ may be one driver for renewed interest recently in CBWM. Because professionals perceive volunteer-monitoring data as unreliable, they currently give little support to volunteer monitoring. To address their concern, we compared CBWM with measurements by regional authorities (RAs) – the main water management agencies in NZ. Agreement was encouragingly close for a comprehensive range of variables, including the important state-of-environment (SoE) indicators: visual clarity, Escherichia coli and macroinvertebrates. Community volunteers need and want ongoing professional support and encouragement, and, fortunately, there are important benefits for water management agencies, including engagement of citizens in water management and use of volunteer data. Professional support for CBWM in NZ could include: advice and encouragement, training, database development and quality assurance. Current research and development is focused on improving resources and systems for volunteer monitoring, notably with upgrading of the SHMAK. We are enlisting volunteers, equipped with improved tools and support systems, to assess the benefits of riparian rehabilitation and the suitability of water for swimming.

Use of a Volunteer Monitoring Program to Assess Water Quality in a TMDL Watershed Utilized for Recreational Use, Pickens County, South Carolina

Municipalities, regulatory agencies, and resource advocacy organizations are often tasked with the enormous responsibility of monitoring water quality and implementing management strategies for vast areas within their jurisdictions. A potential means for addressing the resulting sampling shortfall is the use of volunteer monitoring programs. The project reported herein demonstrates the use of QA/QC protocols developed by Georgia Adopt-a-Stream (AAS) to monitor water quality issues for Twelve Mile Creek located in Pickens County, SC. The Twelve Mile watershed has a storied past as a U.S. EPA Superfund site due to industrial PCB contamination. Recent mitigation efforts involving the removal of two concrete dams have resulted in the creation of a nearly two-mile section of whitewater which is used by the local paddling community and is being marketed as a recreational destination. However, the Twelve Mile watershed also has a TMDL Implementation Plan in place due to chronic impairment from fecal coliform bacteria. Using sampling and monitoring methods developed by AAS, this project determined that E. coli levels increase significantly during high-flow discharges due to storm events and there were no significant differences in E. coli concentrations among sites located along a longitudinal gradient following the proposed Twelve Mile Creek Blueway. Ironically, the popularity of this area for paddling increases during periods of high discharge, thus recreational users are likely exposed to unhealthy levels of bacteria under these “desirable” conditions. Volunteer monitoring programs like AAS exhibit tremendous potential for gathering water quality data that may not be possible if left solely up to other stakeholders. Appropriately managed volunteer monitoring programs have the capability to increase the resolution, reach, and efficiency of existing monitoring programs and serve to benefit a variety of stakeholders.