The European Water Framework Directive: a new era in the management of aquatic ecosystem health?

Pollard, Peter; Huxham, Mark

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-0755(1998110)8:6<773::aid-aqc313>3.0.co;2-r

Cited by 98 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…While some regulations have been put in place by water quality control organizations in various countries to control toxic and chemical loadings from point source as well as non-point source (Borja et al, 2004, Pollard andHuxham, 1998), they have not been as effective for diffuse non-point sources as for point sources (Heimlich, 2003). In order to prevent and reduce water pollution in the US, the use of best management practices (BMPs) has been proposed by the EPA (Environment Protection Agency) for controlling and managing agricultural practices (UNEP, 1998).…”

Section: Figure 1: Water Contamination Activities In a Catchmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of agricultural activities on water quality: A case for collaborative catchment-scale management using integrated wireless sensor networks

Zia¹,

Harris²,

Merrett³

et al. 2013

Computers and Electronics in Agriculture

127

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Abstract-The challenge of improving water quality is a growing global concern, typified by the European Commission Water Framework Directive and the United States Clean Water Act. The main drivers of poor water quality are economics, poor water management, agricultural practices and urban development. This paper reviews the extensive role of non-point sources, in particular the outdated agricultural practices, with respect to nutrient and contaminant contributions. Water quality monitoring (WQM) is currently undertaken through a number of data acquisition methods from grab sampling to satellite based remote sensing of water bodies. Based on the surveyed sampling methods and their numerous limitations, it is proposed that wireless sensor networks (WSNs), despite their own limitations, are still very attractive and effective for real-time spatio-temporal data collection for WQM applications. WSNs have been employed for WQM of surface and ground water and catchments, and have been fundamental in advancing the knowledge of contaminants trends through their high resolution observations. However, these applications have yet to explore the implementation and impact of this technology for management and control decisions, to minimize and prevent individual stakeholder's contributions, in an autonomous and dynamic manner. Here, the potential of WSN-controlled agricultural activities and different environmental compartments for integrated water quality management is presented and limitations of WSN in agriculture and WQM are identified. Finally, a case for collaborative networks at catchment scale is proposed for enabling cooperation among individually networked activities/stakeholders (farming activities, water bodies) for integrated water quality monitoring, control and management.Index Terms-wireless sensor networks, agricultural activities, water quality monitoring and management, catchment, collaborative. INTRODUCTIONWater is a key natural resource which is vital for the survival of all ecosystems on the planet. However, less than 1% of the earth's water resources are accessible to humans as fresh water, in the form of either surface or ground water (Krchnak et al., 2002, UNESCO, 2006. Although there is currently sufficient water for essential activities (Blanco et al., 2009) including drinking, irrigation, and domestic and industrial use on a global scale, the spatial distribution of water suggests that, in many cases, it is not available where it is required. Because of the unequal distribution of fresh water resources, billions of people around the globe live in water-stressed and water-limited environments. Therefore it is crucial to preserve water resources although in practice it is continually degraded and depleted owing to inappropriately targeted funding initiatives leading to poor water management, redundant and outdated agricultural practices and urban development (Rosegrant et al., 2002, Verhoeven et al., 2006. The key issues relating to global freshwater quality problems in the environment and public hea...

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Section: Figure 1: Water Contamination Activities In a Catchmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of agricultural activities on water quality: A case for collaborative catchment-scale management using integrated wireless sensor networks

Zia¹,

Harris²,

Merrett³

et al. 2013

Computers and Electronics in Agriculture

127

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“…The underlying aim of the new legislation, the Water Framework Directive (WFD), is to manage aquatic systems by catchment using measures of ecosystem health to assess success (Pollard & Huxham, 1998). The inclusion of hydro-morphology in the assessment of ecological status is significant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrophyte communities of European streams with altered physical habitat

O’Hare¹,

Baattrup‐Pedersen²,

Nijboer³

et al. 2006

The Ecological Status of European Rivers: Evaluation and Intercalibration of Assessment Methods

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The impact of altering hydro-morphology on three macrophyte community types was investigated at 107 European stream sites. Sites were surveyed using standard macrophyte and habitat survey techniques (Mean Trophic Rank Methodology and River Habitat Survey respectively). Principal Components Analysis shows the macrophyte community of upland streams live in a more structurally diverse physical habitat than lowland communities. Variables representing the homogeneity and diversity of the physical environment were used to successfully separate un-impacted from impacted sites, e.g. homogeneity of depth and substrate increased with decreasing quality class for lowland sites (ANOVA p<0.05). Macrophyte attribute groups and structural metrics such as species richness were successfully linked to hydro-morphological variables indicative of impact. Most links were specific to each macrophyte community type, e.g., the attribute group liverworts, mosses and lichens decreased in abundance with increasing homogeneity of depth and decreasing substrate size at lowland sites but not at upland sites. Elodea canadensis, Sparganium emersum and Potamogeton crispus were indicative of impacted lowland sites. Many of the indicator species are also known to be tolerant to other forms of impact. The potential for a macrophyte tool indicative of hydro-morphological impact is discussed. It is concluded one could be constructed by combining indicator species and metrics such as species richness and evenness.

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“…Unfortunately long-term datasets are rare for most lakes and, where they exist, monitoring programmes tend to have been initiated once the problem has already become apparent. The WFD states that, in the absence of long-term data, reference conditions may be derived using palaeolimnological methods (Pollard and Huxham 1998;European Union 2000). Indeed, palaeolimnology has now become a standard technique for providing information on ecological status and the timing, rate and magnitude of ecological change (Smol 2008) and has been applied in several recent studies to define reference conditions in the context of the WFD (see review in Bennion and Battarbee 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of diatom records to establish reference conditions for UK lakes subject to eutrophication

Bennion

Simpson

2010

J Paleolimnol

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A knowledge of pre-disturbance conditions is important for setting realistic restoration targets for lakes. For European waters this is now a requirement of the European Council Water Framework Directive (WFD) where ecological status must be assessed based on the degree to which present day conditions deviate from reference conditions. Here, we employ palaeolimnological techniques, principally inferences of total phosphorus from diatom assemblages (DI-TP) and classification of diatom composition data from the time slice in sediment cores dated to ~1850 AD, to define chemical and ecological reference conditions, respectively, for a range of UK lake types. The DI-TP results from 169 sites indicate that reference TP values for low alkalinity lakes are typically < 10 µg L -1 and in many cases < 5 µg L -1 , whilst those for medium and high alkalinity lakes are in the range 10-30 µg L -1 and 20-40 µg L -1 , respectively. Within the latter two alkalinity types, the deeper waters (> 3 m mean depth) generally had lower reference TP concentrations than the shallow sites. A small group of shallow marl lakes had concentrations of ~30 µg L -1 . Cluster analysis of diatom composition data from 106 lakes where the key pressure of interest was eutrophication identified three clusters, each associated with particular lake types, suggesting that the typology has ecological relevance, although poor cross matching of the diatom groups and the lake typology at type boundaries highlights the value of a site-specific approach to defining reference conditions. Finally the floristic difference between the reference and present day (surface sample) diatom assemblages of each site was estimated using the squared chord distance dissimilarity coefficient.Only 25 of the 106 lakes experienced insignificant change and the findings indicate that eutrophication has impacted all lake types with > 50% of sites exhibiting significant floristic change.The study illustrates the role of the sediment record in determining both chemical and ecological reference conditions, and assessing deviation from the latter. Whilst restoration targets may require modification in the future to account for climate induced alterations, the long temporal perspective offered by palaeolimnology ensures that such changes are assessed against a sound baseline.3

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The European Water Framework Directive: a new era in the management of aquatic ecosystem health?

Cited by 98 publications

References 32 publications

The impact of agricultural activities on water quality: A case for collaborative catchment-scale management using integrated wireless sensor networks

The impact of agricultural activities on water quality: A case for collaborative catchment-scale management using integrated wireless sensor networks

Macrophyte communities of European streams with altered physical habitat

The use of diatom records to establish reference conditions for UK lakes subject to eutrophication

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