scholarly journals Water Quality as an Indicator of Stream Restoration Effects—A Case Study of the Kwacza River Restoration Project

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Mrozińska ◽  
Katarzyna Glińska-Lewczuk ◽  
Paweł Burandt ◽  
Szymon Kobus ◽  
Wojciech Gotkiewicz ◽  
...  

River restoration projects rely on environmental engineering solutions to improve the health of riparian ecosystems and restore their natural characteristics. The Kwacza River, the left tributary of the Słupia River in northern Poland, and the recipient of nutrients from an agriculturally used catchment area, was restored in 2007. The ecological status of the river’s biotope was improved with the use of various hydraulic structures, including palisades, groynes and stone islands, by protecting the banks with trunks, exposing a fragment of the river channel, and building a by-pass near a defunct culvert. The effects of restoration treatments were evaluated by comparing the physicochemical parameters of river water along the 2.5 km restored section between the source and the mouth to the Słupia, before restoration and 6 years after hydrotechnical treatments. A total of 18 physicochemical parameters were analyzed at 10 cross-sections along the river. The greatest changes were observed in the concentrations of NO3−-N and NH4+-N, which decreased by 70% and 50%, respectively. Dissolved oxygen concentration increased by 65%. Chloride values increased by 44%, and chlorophyll-a concentration increased by 30% after the project. The cut-off channel (by-pass), semi-palisades, and single groynes were the treatments that contributed most to water quality improvement. The results of this study indicate that river restoration projects can substantially reduce nitrogen pollution, which is particularly important in agricultural areas. Such measures can effectively reinstate natural conditions in river ecosystems. Hydrochemical monitoring is required to control the parameters of restored rivers.

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Hofman-Caris ◽  
Thomas ter Laak ◽  
Hans Huiting ◽  
Harry Tolkamp ◽  
Ad de Man ◽  
...  

The aquatic environment and drinking water production are under increasing pressure from the presence of pharmaceuticals and their transformation products in surface waters. Demographic developments and climate change result in increasing environmental concentrations, deeming abatement measures necessary. Here, we report on an extensive case study around the river Meuse and its tributaries in the south of The Netherlands. For the first time, concentrations in the tributaries were measured and their apportionment to a drinking water intake downstream were calculated and measured. Large variations, depending on the river discharge were observed. At low discharge, total concentrations up to 40 μg/L were detected, with individual pharmaceuticals exceeding thresholds of toxicological concern and ecological water-quality standards. Several abatement options, like reorganization of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and additional treatment of wastewater or drinking water were evaluated. Abatement at all WWTPs would result in a good chemical and ecological status in the rivers as required by the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive. Considering long implementation periods and high investment costs, we recommend prioritizing additional treatment at the WWTPs with a high contribution to the environment. If drinking water quality is at risk, temporary treatment solutions in drinking water production can be considered. Pilot plant research proved that ultraviolet (UV) oxidation is a suitable solution for drinking water and wastewater treatment, the latter preferably in combination with effluent organic matter removal. In this way >95% of removal of pharmaceuticals and their transformation products can be achieved, both in drinking water and in wastewater. Application of UV/H2O2, preceded by humic acid removal by ion exchange, will cost about €0.23/m3 treated water.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 500
Author(s):  
Laima Česonienė ◽  
Daiva Šileikienė ◽  
Midona Dapkienė

The larger and deeper lakes and ponds are, the better the conditions for spontaneous water purification, slower hydrobiological processes and slower accumulation of sediment. The goal of this research was to assess the ecological status of selected Lithuanian lentic water bodies and the impact of morphometric indicators on water quality. Multiple studies were conducted on 29 lakes and 10 ponds located throughout Lithuania in 2014–2018. The study proved that higher maxima and average depths of lakes correlate with lower Ptotal, Ntotal yield and macrophyte taxonomic composition values, indicating higher ecological status class. Higher chlorophyll a EQR, ichthyofauna taxonomic composition indicator for Lithuanian fish index LFI and Lithuanian lakes’ macroinvertebrate index indicates a higher ecological class. Larger lake areas contain smaller amounts of Ptotal and Ntotal, indicating better ecological status class; higher ichthyophane taxonomic composition in LFI, zoobenthos taxonomic composition indicator for Lithuanian lakes’ macroinvertebrates index (LLMI) and taxonomic composition of macrophytes MRI indicate better ecological status class. Larger lake areas contain lower chlorophyll a EQR values. Rapid water exchange improves the condition of the lake in addition to nitrogen, phosphorus and chlorophyll a EQR values. The faster the water exchange in the lake is, the lower the Ptotal and Ntotal values; faster water exchange in the lake also means higher chlorophyll a EQR values. However, slower water exchange indicates better ecological status of the macrophytic taxonomic composition of the MRI, the ichthyofauna taxonomic composition and the Lithuanian lakes’ macroinvertebrates index indicator of zoobenthos.


Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 152
Author(s):  
Maria Oliveira ◽  
Margarida Antunes ◽  
Ana Carvalho

The quality of water is crucial for the qualification of river beaches. The Cávado River watershed (Northern Portugal) contains five river beaches with a regular and specific mandatory monitorization. The main subject of this research is the evaluation of spatial and temporal water microbiological and physicochemical parameters to assess the water quality improvement and consequently watershed management. The results of monitoring surface water, considering microbiological parameters from the five river beaches (2015/19), and physicochemical parameters from three water points along the Cávado River (2018/19) were considered. The river beaches located upstream of the town of Braga has an “excellent” and “good” quality, while the river beach located downstream shows a lower water quality. The physicochemical water results indicated that there is a progressive degradation of water quality from upstream to downstream of the river, which is associated with the influence of domestic and industrial activities. To improve water quality, continuous monitoring will be necessary, with the implementation of adequate awareness-raising programs and strategic water quality management by the population and local agents.


Author(s):  
Imas Komariah ◽  
Toru Matsumoto

Many rivers in urban areas in Indonesia are commonly used as raw water sources for drinking water purposes. Therefore, the water quality of the rivers needs to be maintained. River restoration program becomes a major priority in improving the water sector and environmental, particularly in big cities in Indonesia. Sugutamu River is one of the main rivers passing through the Depok City, West Province of Indonesia. High population . Stakeholder participations should be considered when implementing a participatory program in river restoration project. This program can be developed by increasing the awareness of the community. One of the most important communities is the ‘expert’ communities. In this research, economists, environmental specialists, river engineers, urban planners are selected as the ‘expert’ community. Questionnaires were distributed to the expert communities to investigate how the respondents concern about the importance of river water quality. The result shows that the awareness of the expert community on river water quality and its improvement is higher than on other aspects.


2004 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Brian C. Hickey ◽  
Bruce Doran

Abstract Vegetative buffer strips are being widely promoted as an effective technique to protect rivers and streams from the negative impacts of adjacent land uses including forestry and agriculture. An extensive review of the literature revealed that despite the intuitive appeal of buffer strips, data demonstrating their efficacy is highly variable and most studies demonstrating significant nutrient removal in buffer zones come from studies undertaken in riparian buffers greater than 30 m wide. These buffers are much wider than what land managers can typically expect farmers to remove from active production in order to protect water quality. Research attempting to demonstrate the efficacy of riparian buffers needs to focus on buffer widths that are within the range that landowners are likely to "give up" in the name of water quality protection. Lack of experimental evidence from buffers in the 1- to 10-m width range typically encountered on farms makes it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the efficacy of riparian buffers in agricultural areas.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 117-125
Author(s):  
Joanna Przybylska ◽  
Joanna Kaleta ◽  
Rafał Kozłowski

Abstract The monitoring of selected physicochemical parameters and chemical composition of water was conducted in 2017-2018 in the Lubrzanka river and the Cedzyna reservoir (Swietokrzyskie Mountains, Poland). The results indicate that the impact of reservoir on the quality of river water depends on natural characteristics of the catchment as well as on the present anthropogenic pressure. Retention of water in the reservoir caused seasonally diversified changes in analysed parameters, including an increase in water temperature, retention of major ions, nutrients and trace elements. Further research is needed to assess the risk of contamination of lower course of the river with metals deposited in reservoir’s bottom sediments.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 2503-2553 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Schneider ◽  
T. Vogt ◽  
M. Schirmer ◽  
J. A. Doetsch ◽  
N. Linde ◽  
...  

Abstract. River restoration projects have been launched over the last two decades to improve the ecological status and water quality of regulated rivers. As most restored rivers are not monitored at all, it is difficult to predict consequences of restoration projects or analyze why restorations fail or are successful. It is thus necessary to implement efficient field assessment strategies, for example by employing sensor networks that continuously measure physical parameters at high spatial and temporal resolution. This paper focuses on the design and implementation of an instrumentation strategy for monitoring changes in bank filtration, hydrological connectivity, groundwater travel time and quality due to river restoration. We specifically designed and instrumented a network of monitoring wells at the Thur River (NE Switzerland), which is partly restored and mainly channelized since more than 100 years. Our results show that bank filtration – especially in a restored section with alternating riverbed morphology – is variable in time and space. Consequently, our monitoring network sensing physical and sampling chemical water quality parameters was adapted in response to that variability. Although not available at our test site, we consider long-term measurements – ideally initialized before and continued after restoration – as a fundamental step, towards predicting consequences of river restoration for groundwater quality. As a result, process-based models could be adapted and evaluated using these types of high-resolution data sets.


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