Integrated plan for the sustainable management of the Lagoon of Marano and Grado

Abstract

The Lagoon of Marano and Grado has been experiencing some remarkable environmental impacts, which have affected the high-value natural ecosystem and consequently influenced relevant socio-economic aspects. One of the main problems relates to the diffuse contamination of soil and groundwater in the mainland, as well as sediments in rivers and in the lagoon itself. The need to ensure safe navigation conditions in the lagoon and in the Corno River serving Porto Nogaro harbour is another critical emergency. Other environmental issues of concern are: loss of morphological diversity, watershed basins' pollution loads and protection of lagoon habitats. Due to the emergency situation, a Special Commissioner has been appointed by the national government to proceed with the resolution of the most critical problems. A specific "Operational Plan of interventions" was therefore elaborated in 2009. Approaching problems and solutions in an integrated way, the Plan represents one of the tools for the sustainable development of the lagoon. It strongly supports the adoption of adaptive management, foreseeing the periodical updating and improvement of objectives, strategies and interventions. The Plan also identifies the need for coordination among institutions and involvement of stakeholders as key elements for the implementation of adaptive management.

The SHAPE Project: An Innovative Approach to Understanding Seasonal and Diel Dissolved Oxygen Dynamics in the Marano and Grado Lagoon (Adriatic Sea) under the WFD/2000/60/CE

“…DO expressed as % of saturation ranged from 0 to 155% (mean = 87.3 ± 26.0%; median = 84.6%). Overall, the results are lower than those reported by [45] (30-40%, median/mean value close to 100% saturation, 93%/92%) and a significant difference was found among the investigated sites (K-W: H(chi 2 ) = 2.16 × e 7 ; p (same) = 0) with the highest average found at M9 (104.1 ± 25.6%) and the lowest at G2 (46.0 ± 37.4%). Taking monthly variability into consideration, there is a general decrease from May to November (from 104.5 to 78.7% on average) and a slight increase until December, thus there was a significant seasonal difference (K-W: H(chi 2 ) = 1.55 × e 7 ; p (same) = 0) (Figure 4).…”

“…There are several important economic activities which take place there, benefiting local inhabitants and the region as a whole: the most important being tourism, fishing and aquaculture [44]. On the other hand, mercury contamination and other persistent pollutants pose some environmental concerns [43,[45][46][47] and in the past part of the lagoon was declared to be a polluted site of national interest (SIN; Ministerial Decree 468/01): currently the area of the SIN has been reduced and is not part of the lagoon but involves only some areas located inland. Some areas are also impacted by the presence of nitrates which are derived from agricultural practices (mainly in the Marano sector), manure, urban wastewaters, in situ nitrification and atmospheric deposition [48].…”

Behaviour of Metal(loid)s at the Sediment-Water Interface in an Aquaculture Lagoon Environment (Grado Lagoon, Northern Adriatic Sea, Italy)

“…The significant enrichment of Hg is due to the legacy of 500 years of the historical mining activity at Idrija (NW Slovenia) [38], whereas Cd, as well as the minimal enrichment (EF <2) observed for Fe, Pb and Zn at both sites, could be associated with the more recent anthropogenic inputs from several local sources, mainly industrial and agricultural activities located inland. Among them, the industrial site of Torviscosa represents the main source of concern [11], being the primary chemical stress for the lagoon According to the five degrees of contamination proposed by Sutherland [37], the highest EF values were found at site VN3 (Supplementary Materials Table S1), especially for Cd and Hg, which showed a significant enrichment (EF = 5-20), and for Fe, which showed a moderate enrichment (EF = 2-5), but only in the 0-1 cm level (2.27). Cadmium and Hg were significantly enriched also in core VN1, but with EF values lower than VN3.…”

“…The significant enrichment of Hg is due to the legacy of 500 years of the historical mining activity at Idrija (NW Slovenia) [38], whereas Cd, as well as the minimal enrichment (EF <2) observed for Fe, Pb and Zn at both sites, could be associated with the more recent anthropogenic inputs from several local sources, mainly industrial and agricultural activities located inland. Among them, the industrial site of Torviscosa represents the main source of concern [11], being the primary chemical stress for the lagoon environment. In addition to Hg, which was discharged from 1949 to 1984 into the Aussa-Corno River system from the decommissioned chlor-alkali plant of Torviscosa, the occurrence of other metal(loid)s (Cd, Zn, As, Pb and Cu) could be related to several industrial activities that took place in this site [11].…”

“…The Marano and Grado Lagoon (Northern Adriatic Sea, Italy) is affected by a high degree of mercury (Hg) contamination in sediments originating from the Idrija mine (NW Slovenia) and the decommissioned chlor-alkali plant of Torviscosa (Italy) [8]. In addition, previous studies reported an evident accumulation of other metal(loid)s in the lagoon subtidal sediments caused by industrial, urban and tourist activities [9][10][11].…”