Managing the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems under water scarcity. The GLOBAQUA project

Abstract

Water scarcity is a serious environmental problem in many European regions, and will likely increase in the near future as a consequence of increased abstraction and climate change. Water scarcity exacerbates the effects of multiple stressors, and thus results in decreased water quality. It impacts river ecosystems, threatens the services they provide, and it will force managers and policy-makers to change their current practices. The EU-FP7 project GLOBAQUA aims at identifying the prevalence, interaction and linkages between stressors, and to assess their effects on the chemical and ecological status of freshwater ecosystems in order to improve water management practice and policies. GLOBAQUA assembles a multidisciplinary team of 21 European plus 2 non-European scientific institutions, as well as water authorities and river basin managers. The project includes experts in hydrology, chemistry, biology, geomorphology, modelling, socio-economics, governance science, knowledge brokerage, and policy advocacy. GLOBAQUA studies six river basins (Ebro, Adige, Sava, Evrotas, Anglian and Souss Massa) affected by water scarcity, and aims to answer the following questions: how does water scarcity interact with other existing stressors in the study river basins? How will these interactions change according to the different scenarios of future global change? Which will be the foreseeable consequences for river ecosystems? How will these in turn affect the services the ecosystems provide? How should management and policies be adapted to minimise the ecological, economic and societal consequences? These questions will be approached by combining data-mining, field- and laboratory-based research, and modelling. Here, we outline the general structure of the project and the activities to be conducted within the fourteen work-packages of GLOBAQUA.

Non-perennial Mediterranean rivers in Europe: Status, pressures, and challenges for research and management

“…This results in the simultaneous exposure of EU-Med NPRS ecosystems in multi-stress situations which may produce novel and unfamiliar synergies and, most likely, very pronounced effects of unknown consequence (Navarro-Ortega et al, 2015).…”

“…The current GLOBAQUA and MARS projects apply a multidisciplinary approach in order to study the interaction of multiple stressors, including water stress conditions. The specific aims are to better understand how current management practices and policies could be improved by identifying main drawbacks and developing alternative opportunities (Navarro-Ortega et al, 2015). The LIFE+ TRivers project aims to create new tools in order to improve the management of NPRS, according to the WFD.…”

Potentially toxic elements in the riparian soils of the Sava River

“…These soils are under intense pressure from various anthropogenic sources of pollutants, which could contribute significantly to multiple stress conditions (Navarro-Ortega et al 2015;Wang et al 2015). In fact, as a complex and dynamic component of aquatic ecosystems, riparian soils are a suitable medium for monitoring heavy metal pollution.…”

“…Sampling was conducted along the river during a low-water event from 1 to 9 September 2015 as part of the GLOBAQUA project (Navarro-Ortega et al 2015). Twelve sampling localities were selected based on their representativeness in terms of different pollution sources/anthropogenic pressures (Fig.…”

Uncertainty Estimation and Evaluation of Shallow Aquifers’ Exploitability: The Case Study of the Adige Valley Aquifer (Italy)

“…The hydrology of the Adige catchment (9700 km 2 at Trento), is mainly controlled by snow and glacier melting (e.g., [47][48][49]), although it is also significantly influenced by anthropogenic activities such as hydropower production [50] and agriculture [48]. The catchment is characterized by a sub-alpine climate with a long-term mean annual precipitation of 1022 mm.…”