Habitat Management of the Endemic and Critical Endangered Montseny Brook Newt (Calotriton arnoldi)

Calotriton arnoldi is an endemic amphibian inhabiting Montseny Natural Park and Biosphere Re-serve (PNRBM). It was recognized as a new taxon in 2005 by means of genetic and morphologi-cal analyses and, due to its small distribution range and population size, it was listed as “Criti-cally endangered (CR)” by IUCN. Its area of distribution is small and fragmented less than line-ar 5 km. The Montseny Brook Newt is adapted to mountain streams and requires a pristine hab-itat, one which is currently being affected by conservation issues linked to climate change and human activities (logging, water catchments, visitor’s frequency, among others). At the end of 2016, the Life Tritó del Montseny (LifeTM) project (LIFE15 NAT/ES/000757) was launched. This project’s aim was to promote around fifty actions to ensure the conservation of C. arnoldi and its natural habitat, in the Montseny SCI of the Natura 2000 Network, with five strategic lines: 1) To increase scientific and technical knowledge with regard to C. arnoldi conservation status and its habitat management. 2) To ensure its genetic conservation and expand its geographic distribu-tion 3) To eliminate or minimize threats that exist in the riparian habitat. 4) To Involve and en-gage stakeholders and local residents in the conservation of Montseny brook newt riparian hab-itats. 5) To establish proper legal coverage and define long-term strategic planning. Since 2017, several actions linked to the strategic lines 1 and 3 have been initiated. Many unforeseen events have been overcome and there have been some failures, but there have also been several satis-factory results that allow us to be optimistic about the future of the species. These achievements and failures obtained throughout the process provide us with essential information to develop an adaptive habitat management. Dozens of monitoring surveys have been carried out which allow us to understand the evolution of natural populations, to improve our knowledge re-garding their biology and to assess the impact of conservation actions. In relation to eliminating or minimizing threats to the newt’s habitat, some of the actions that are being carried out are: a) Land acquisitions and land exchanges with different private properties. b) Land stewardship with two custody agreements being signed. c) Reduction of water withdrawal with nine water catchments and distribution being remodeled. e) Improvement of water treatments and storage by installing ecological wastewater treatment facilities. f) Ensure ecological connectivity and ri-parian forest restoration by removing twenty-two river connectivity barriers removed and exe-cuting twelve forestry and bioengineering interventions within the riverside habitat. With re-gard to analyzing the conservation status, management activities and scientific and technical knowledge, active long-term monitoring of the newt population and hydrological conditions has begun. Here we present an evaluation of the actions carried out to improve the habitat of this species, including the necessary considerations for them to be implemented correctly and to be successful in a natural area, which is under public-private management.

Assessment of Human Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water Catchments, Tap and Drinking Fountain Waters

The occurrence of pharmaceuticals in water catchments and drinking waters raises potential risks to public health. Therefore, after addressing the major aquatic contamination pathway, the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and, subsequently, surface waters, 18 human pharmaceuticals from 6 therapeutic groups (antibiotics, lipid regulators, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and hormones) were analyzed in drinking water catchments, tap and drinking fountain waters. This was performed by solid phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass detection (LC-MS/MS). The 97 samples analyzed were collected from 31 different sites in the center of Portugal. All samples presented concentrations below the method detection limits (MDLs) that ranged between 1.13 to 5.45 ng L−1. The achieved results contributed to a better knowledge on the Portuguese and European context of drinking water, since there is a knowledge gap regarding this matrix. Comparing our data with other studies, published worldwide, we can observe that median concentrations of pharmaceuticals were reported in the low ng L−1 levels, values close to our MDLs. Consequently, it is unlikely that, in light of the current knowledge, the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water presents a threat to human health.

Persistent Challenges of Potable Water Supply, Implications and Mitigation Strategies in Limbe, Cameroon

Persistent challenges of potable water supply and its implications hinder man’s progress in Limbe municipality. The growing population of Limbe Municipality faces increasing challenges of potable water supply with lots of implications. And the Cameroon Water Utilities Corporation (CAMWATER) with the local communities involved in potable water management is unable to meet up with this increasing demand. This has led to the challenges of potable water supply in Limbe municipality which is very frustrating to water consumers. This present study sought to examine the challenges of potable water supply and its implications in Limbe. A combination of research methods (desk review, interviews and reconnaissance field appraisal) have been used in this study. Our findings revealed that increasing population and poor management of potable water supply were the major problems. In the methods utilized, a community based cross-sectional survey was conducted from March to December 2020 using quantitative and qualitative approaches. Wealth Health Organization checklist was used for observation around catchments, then the assessment of water supply challenges was done with a semi quantitative approach. And 200 questionnaires were administered where qualitative data was collected through Focus Group Discussions and in-depth interviews. The results obtained from the 7 water catchments assessed indicated that 50% of the water supply challenges were as a result of the increasing population in Limbe municipality. Meanwhile 30% stated that poor management of potable water supply by the authorities concern is another reason of persistent challenges of potable water supply in Limbe. While 20% were of the opinion that the challenges of potable water supply is as a result of anthropogenic activities near water catchments leading to a progressive reduction in water volume. An integrated potable water management team is needed and a periodic monitoring of these catchment in order to reduce this persistent challenges.

ChessWatch: Observations on a Citizen Science approach to catchment management.

<p>River Chess is a chalk stream in South East England (UK), under unprecedented pressure from over-abstraction, urbanisation and climate change, which currently fails to meet good ecological status. Citizen Scientists have been active in the catchment for 9 years carrying out riverfly monitoring due chiefly to concerns about water quality and poor fish populations. The River Chess is also a pilot river for a new catchment-based ‘Smarter Water Catchments’ programme run by the region’s wastewater treatment company (Thames Water) which aims to work with local communities and regulators to deliver improvements to the river by tackling multiple challenges together. The community-led ChessWatch project is a part of this initiative, and is designed to raise public awareness of threats to the River Chess and involve the public in river management activities using a sensor network as a platform. In 2018 four water quality sensors were installed in the river to provide stakeholders with real-time water quality data (15-minute intervals) to support catchment management activities. The dataset from the project is intended to support future decision-making in the catchment as part of the five-year ‘Smarter Water Catchments’ approach.</p><p>Our presentation will review the successes and drawbacks of the ChessWatch project to date and examine the challenges of linking the data collected by the project to policy and practice in a catchment with multiple stakeholder groups. We present the results of a participatory mapping exercise held at local community events to capture the public use of, and concerns for, the river revealing concerns for low flows and water quality issues linked to abstraction and runoff. We show how dissolved oxygen, temperature, turbidity, chlorophyll-a and tryptophan measurements made by the sensors are enabling local stakeholders to better understand the threats to the river arising from urban runoff and changing rainfall patterns, and we examine the challenges of data presentation, sharing and usage in an urbanised catchment with high water demand and multiple conflicting interests.</p>

The structure of the Karay river basin by the longitudinal slopes of the river beds and the average gradients of water catchments slopes

The problems of water lag time during flood forecasting, the rate of pollution spreading over the basin area in the event of industrial accidents, the transport of suspended and dissolved substances by rivers, and planning of erosion control measures are very relevant today. Within the framework of the basin approach, an elementary water catchment can be adopted as an elementary unit for the analysis of a particular territory. At the same time, river bed slopes determine the power of the water flow, and the average slopes of water catchments significantly affect the formation of river flow, the nature of the hydrological regime and determine the erosion potential of the territory. The object of the study is the basin of the Karay river, located in the southeastern part of the OkaDon plain. The Karay river is a right tributary of the Khoper river (the Don river basin). For the Karay river basin the river bed slopes and average gradients of catchment slopes are calculated and analyzed. The calculations were based on the digital elevation model created in GIS MapInfo. It is shown that the average slopes of the territories within the Karay river basin range from 0.4° to 1.4°.