Response of amphipod assemblages to desalination brine discharge: Impact and recovery

de-la-Ossa-Carretero, José Antonio; Del‐Pilar‐Ruso, Yoana; Loya-Fernández, Ángel; Ferrero-Vicente, Luis Miguel; Marco‐Méndez, Candela; Martínez‐García, Elena; Sánchez-Lizaso, José Luis

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2016.01.035

Cited by 45 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…ambient [17,23,56]. Our field observations have not detected measurable negative changes (e.g., decrease) when comparing the pre-and post-operation conditions.…”

Section: Benthic Macrofauna and Ecotoxicological Study Of Brine Exposurecontrasting

confidence: 53%

“…Observations around other desalination facilities worldwide have linked decreased abundances of epi-and infaunal organisms to increased salinity, typically when it reaches 5% above ambient [17,23,56]. Our field observations have not detected measurable negative changes (e.g., decrease) when comparing the pre-and post-operation conditions.…”

Section: Future Desalination Plants In Californiamentioning

confidence: 49%

“…To reduce the footprint of brine plumes and their possible impacts, use of alternative discharge technologies, such as diffuser systems, should be considered and appropriate modeling of the discharge design used. Both models and practice indicate that diffuser systems increase the mixing of discharge brine with ambient seawater [50,56,60,61]. Our results also suggest that long-term monitoring of coastal areas in the vicinity of proposed plants will be needed both before and after construction and operation.…”

Section: Future Desalination Plants In Californiamentioning

confidence: 69%

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Biological and Physical Effects of Brine Discharge from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and Implications for Future Desalination Plant Constructions

Petersen

Heck

Reguero

et al. 2019

Water

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Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination is increasingly used as a technology for addressing shortages of freshwater supply and desalination plants are in operation or being planned world-wide and specifically in California, USA. However, the effects of continuous discharge of high-salinity brine into coastal environments are ill-constrained and in California are an issue of public debate. We collected in situ measurements of water chemistry and biological indicators in coastal waters (up to ~2 km from shore) before and after the newly constructed Carlsbad Desalination Plant (Carlsbad, CA, USA) began operations. A bottom water salinity anomaly indicates that the spatial footprint of the brine discharge plume extended about 600 m offshore with salinity up to 2.7 units above ambient (33.2). This exceeds the maximum salinity permitted for this location based on the California Ocean Plan (2015 Amendment to Water Quality Control Plan). However, no significant changes in the assessed biological indicators (benthic macrofauna, BOPA-index, brittle-star survival and growth) were observed at the discharge site. A model of mean ocean wave potential was used as an indicator of coastal mixing at Carlsbad Beach and at other locations in southern and central CA where desalination facilities are proposed. Our results indicated that to minimize environmental impacts discharge should target waters where a long history of anthropogenic activity has already compromised the natural setting. To ensure adequate mixing of the discharge brine desalination plants should be constructed at high-energy sites with sandy substrates, and discharge through diffusor systems.

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“…ambient [17,23,56]. Our field observations have not detected measurable negative changes (e.g., decrease) when comparing the pre-and post-operation conditions.…”

Section: Benthic Macrofauna and Ecotoxicological Study Of Brine Exposurecontrasting

confidence: 53%

Section: Future Desalination Plants In Californiamentioning

confidence: 49%

Section: Future Desalination Plants In Californiamentioning

confidence: 69%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Biological and Physical Effects of Brine Discharge from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and Implications for Future Desalination Plant Constructions

Petersen

Heck

Reguero

et al. 2019

Water

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“…Consequently, it may intensify the toxicity of the brine discharge, and it would thus induce a localized eutrophication and turbidity of the sea water [10][11][12]. These characteristics of brine discharges impact upon their dispersion mechanisms, which can in turn affect benthic communities such as seagrasses (Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa), or benthic fauna [12][13][14][15][16]. Likewise, recent studies highlight both the short-and long-term impact upon the bacterial activity of benthic bottoms and also the possible impact upon fish larvae [12,17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating environmental requirements for the management of brine discharges in Spain

Solà

Zarzo²,

Sánchez-Lizaso

2019

Desalination

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Desalination activities may have a detrimental impact on the marine environment, caused mainly by hypersaline effluents. The aim of this paper is to assess the quality of Environmental Monitoring Plans (EMPs) of desalination plants in Spain, and the aspects which could be improved to correctly manage brine discharges. A total of 30 desalination projects submitted to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) between 1998 and 2009 have been reviewed. Requirements for the monitoring of brine discharges, and their sampling designs, in the EMPs have improved over time. However, this trend is similar for essential and irrelevant descriptors. Furthermore, the presence of protected species in the area of brine discharges showed a significant increase of requirements. Nevertheless, there was no increase of requirements with respect to a major brine discharge production plant. In conclusion, a review of the EIAs would be advisable to unify the monitoring requirements at the national level, and improving their sampling designs, including the essential descriptors when they are absent, and eliminating irrelevant descriptors when they are present. This standardization should be paid attention to desalination plants with higher brine production as they may have a greater influence on the marine environment.

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“…Indirect environmental impacts on marine ecosystems, such as ocean acidification and sea-level rise, may occur due to the high energy consumption of desalination plants and subsequent increase in greenhouse gas emissions [46,9]. Direct environmental impacts may include degradation of marine habitats (e.g., loss of seagrass beds), mortality of bottom-dwelling organisms [16,17], coastal eutrophication, changes in seawater quality, and changes in microbial communities and production due to brine discharge [4]. Other concerns are mortality of larvae and other organisms due to impingement and entrainment during seawater intake [34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management priorities for seawater desalination plants in a marine protected area: A multi-criteria analysis

et al. 2017

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The development of seawater desalination plants to increase water reliability in coastal areas poses a threat to the health of near shore marine ecosystems and may affect the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) that have been established to meet international conservation targets. This paper applies a multi-criteria analysis approach to quantify stakeholder groups' priorities for seawater desalination plants that have been proposed in communities adjacent to a National Marine Sanctuary. All groups placed the highest importance on minimizing environmental impacts on protected areas and endangered species that could be affected by water intake and brine discharge emphasizing the need for integrated land and sea conservation. Minimizing socio-economic impacts on coastal communities was much less important. Stakeholders also weighted reducing pressure on water levels in rivers, streams, and aquifers as more important than increasing water for residential consumption, which may foster coastal growth rather than replacing water taken from other sources. The study further revealed differences in the importance of multiple management objectives among stakeholder groups, which highlights the need to elicit distinct priorities of all groups to understand concerns and potential conflicts of desalination with existing marine users. The analysis of consistency ratios revealed that around half of all surveyed stakeholders had high inconsistencies in their responses, which suggests either a lack of understanding of desalination, or reflects the complexity of establishing desalination plants in coastal areas adjacent to a marine protected area.

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Response of amphipod assemblages to desalination brine discharge: Impact and recovery

Cited by 45 publications

References 52 publications

Biological and Physical Effects of Brine Discharge from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and Implications for Future Desalination Plant Constructions

Biological and Physical Effects of Brine Discharge from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and Implications for Future Desalination Plant Constructions

Evaluating environmental requirements for the management of brine discharges in Spain

Management priorities for seawater desalination plants in a marine protected area: A multi-criteria analysis

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