Rainfall and runoff water quality of the Pang and Lambourn, tributaries of the River Thames, south-eastern England

Neal, Colin; Skeffington, R. A.; Neal, Margaret; Wyatt, R.; Wickham, Heather; Hill, Linda; Hewitt, Ned

doi:10.5194/hess-8-601-2004

Cited by 49 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…in relation to spatial and temporal relationships This is done to provide a firm base for further detailed process-based water quality studies of these rivers under LOCAR. In extending previous studies of these rivers and the Thames Basin as a whole, this work complements a study of the Pang and Lambourn which examines input-output mass balance relationships (Neal et al, 2004a). It also forms a base for conceptualising the key processes controlling water quality for newly developing environmental impact models (OShea, 2002;Wade et al, 2002a,b;Whitehead et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

The water quality of the LOCAR Pang and Lambourn catchments

Neal

Jarvie

Wade

et al. 2004

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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The water quality of the Pang and Lambourn, tributaries of the River Thames, in south-eastern England, is described in relation to spatial and temporal dimensions. The river waters are supplied mainly from Chalk-fed aquifer sources and are, therefore, of a calcium-bicarbonate type. The major, minor and trace element chemistry of the rivers is controlled by a combination of atmospheric and pollutant inputs from agriculture and sewage sources superimposed on a background water quality signal linked to geological sources. Water quality does not vary greatly over time or space. However, in detail, there are differences in water quality between the Pang and Lambourn and between sites along the Pang and the Lambourn. These differences reflect hydrological processes, water flow pathways and water quality input fluxes. The Pangs pattern of water quality change is more variable than that of the Lambourn. The flow hydrograph also shows both a cyclical and uniform pattern characteristic of aquifer drainage with, superimposed, a series of flashier spiked responses characteristic of karstic systems. The Lambourn, in contrast, shows simpler features without the flashier responses. The results are discussed in relation to the newly developed UK community programme LOCAR dealing with Lowland Catchment Research. A descriptive and box model structure is provided to describe the key features of water quality variations in relation to soil, unsaturated and groundwater flows and storage both away from and close to the river.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

The water quality of the LOCAR Pang and Lambourn catchments

Neal

Jarvie

Wade

et al. 2004

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…In the UK soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in rainfall is regularly monitored by the Environmental Change Network (ECN, 2008), and there are also measurements from research catchments (Neal et al, 2003;Neal et al, 2004). Reported values for average SRP concentrations in rainfall in the UK range from 0.004 to 0.06 mg l -1 P. As they could not be related to catchment characteristics, a constant value for the SRP concentration in rainfall was applied.…”

Section: Bank Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reported values for average SRP concentrations in rainfall in the UK range from 0.004 to 0.06 mg l -1 P. As they could not be related to catchment characteristics, a constant value for the SRP concentration in rainfall was applied. Using the average SRP concentration based on the ECN sites of 0.022 mg l -1 P and assuming an average ratio of SRP to TP of 0.5 as reported by Neal et al (2004) the TP concentration in rainfall was fixed at 0.045 mg l -1…”

Section: Bank Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Available measurements show, nonetheless, that significant concentrations can be reached. For example, Neal et al (2004) Atmospheric deposition P as a preliminary estimate. The groundwater phosphorus estimate was integrated with the PSYCHIC model calculations of vertical soil drainage to groundwater to give an approximate groundwater phosphorus load.…”

Section: Bank Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A model‐based assessment of non‐compliance of phosphorus standards for lakes in England and Wales

Duethmann

Anthony

Carvalho

et al. 2009

International Journal of River Basin Management

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High phosphorus concentrations causing eutrophication will prevent many lakes in England and Wales from reaching good ecological status by 2015 according to the EC Water Framework Directive (WFD). The aim of this study was to estimate the percentage of lakes in England and Wales that are likely to fail recently agreed WFD phosphorus standards. As measured lake phosphorus concentrations are only available for a small number of lakes a model-based approach was adopted. This involved estimating phosphorus loads from a wide range of sources including agricultural loads, sewage effluents, septic tanks, diffuse urban sources, atmospheric deposition, groundwater and bank erosion. Lake phosphorus concentrations were predicted using the Vollenweider model, and the model framework was satisfactorily tested against available observed lake concentration data. Applying the model to all lakes in England and Wales greater than 1 ha, it was estimated that under current conditions, roughly two thirds of the lakes would fail good ecological status with respect to phosphorus. According to our estimates, agricultural phosphorus loads represent the dominant source for the majority of catchments, but diffuse urban runoff also is important in many lakes and sewage effluents are the most frequent dominant source for lake catchments greater than 100 km 2 . Required reductions of phosphorus loads to increase the number of lakes achieving good ecological status and potential delays because of internal loading and biological resistances are briefly discussed.

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“…While SRP concentrations decreased significantly following phosphorus removal from STWs, there was no corresponding reduction in particulate P because the SRP reduced only at the STWs, while within-sediment stores of P will be long lasting in the river. Nevertheless, the relatively high residual concentrations of phosphorus in the Thames, compared to more natural rivers in the same area such as the River Pang, where SPR concentrations range from 7 to 134 mg l 1 (Neal et al, 2004) imposes a further constraint on reducing soil phosphorus levels in the Castle Meadows floodplain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the hydrological suitability of floodplains for species-rich meadow restoration: a case study of the Thames floodplain, UK

Duranel¹,

Acreman²,

Stratford³

et al. 2007

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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The physical and chemical environment of a floodplain needs to be assessed to define conservation targets for restoring it to species-rich meadows from agricultural land. A straightforward technique, widely applicable by site managers for assessing the suitability of the hydrological and hydro-chemical regime of a floodplain for wet grassland restoration, has been tested by examining the feasibility of restoring plants characteristic of NVC MG4 and MG8 communities to the Castle Meadows, Wallingford (Oxfordshire, UK). Hydro-chemical suitability has been assessed by comparing phosphorus concentrations with species-rich meadows nearby. The flooding regime was estimated based on a rating curve and a digital elevation model and groundwater levels were measured monthly in dipwells and piezometers. The hydrological regime was then compared with published reference guidelines for communities of conservation interest. For the Castle Meadows, the maximum duration of flood events in autumn and winter exceeded MG4 and MG8 species requirements across half of the site, while the depth of the groundwater table in summer exceeded species requirements in the other half. It was shown that, depending on topography, MG5 or MG13 may be more realistic vegetation targets.

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Rainfall and runoff water quality of the Pang and Lambourn, tributaries of the River Thames, south-eastern England

Cited by 49 publications

References 24 publications

The water quality of the LOCAR Pang and Lambourn catchments

The water quality of the LOCAR Pang and Lambourn catchments

A model‐based assessment of non‐compliance of phosphorus standards for lakes in England and Wales

Assessing the hydrological suitability of floodplains for species-rich meadow restoration: a case study of the Thames floodplain, UK

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