The Management of Water Colour in Peatland Catchments

The problems of water-colour management in peatland catchments are discussed. Colour may be managed in three areas of the reservoir catchment system: on the catchment itself, in the channel/conduit system and within the reservoir. Whilst a number of workers have considered the management of catchment areas and some have evolved tributary turnout strategies, no previous research has considered the role of the reservoir in the amelioration or enhancement of water colour. The management of water colour at Thornton Moor catchment (near Bradford) is described. In this catchment a staged approach has been adopted, with colour being managed in an integrated manner at three stages along the catchment/conduit/reservoir system.     

Application of an aerial catchment monitoring methodology to assist the development of drinking water safety plans

Risk-based management approaches for safeguarding the quality of public water supply, as strongly endorsed by the World Health Organisation and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, place greater emphasis on the importance of water companies knowing their catchments and their associated risks. Because of their often vast extent, and problems relating to access, it has always been a challenge for water companies to gather reliable data relating to catchment landuse and to monitor catchment activities. This paper presents a methodology that was used successfully within Cambridge Water to gain more knowledge about landuse within its catchments by chartering a helicopter and systematically photographing them. The method used is described, the results are shown and the strengths and the weaknesses of the approach are considered.     

Integrated Catchment Management Planning

Catchment management plans represent the National Rivers Authority's vision for the water environment. With the National Rivers Authority being organized by hydrological regions, the catchment is seen as the natural management unit, and catchment plans offer the means to integrate the Authority's work programme with those of other agencies. Catchment plans summarize relevant data and include an agreed action programme to optimize catchment uses, produced after wide consultation; they complement local authority statutory plans, are current for five to ten years, and will be reviewed regularly during this period. The catchment planning process is seen by the National Rivers Authority as a medium for promoting discussion, resolving conflict, assigning priorities, and setting targets by which progress on key issues can be monitored.     

Inventory of water management practices in Harare, Zimbabwe

Lake Chivero, in Zimbabwe, is the major water supply source for the greater Harare area. This paper looks at the sustainability of current practices of the urban water cycle in relation to water quantity and quality management in the Chivero catchment. Data on population, water supply, water and wastewater treatment and river flows were obtained from urban councils and government departments. The data were used to assess water consumption, wastewater generation, treatment and disposal practices, river flow trends, raw water abstractions and water demand patterns. The results showed that the current situation is not sustainable as water quantity in the catchment will soon be a problem at current levels of consumption while water quality is already a problem, especially with regard to nutrient levels. Water and nutrient management strategies, which include water use efficiency, treatment and water recycling and nutrient reuse in controlled urban agriculture, are recommended as matters of urgency.     

Using water industry data to assess the metaldehyde pollution problem

The presence of metaldehyde in raw and treated water has become a recognised problem recently. The current study used water industry monitoring data collected over a two and a half‐year period (2008–2011) to quantify the presence of metaldehyde in rivers and finished waters. Measured surface water concentrations were then compared with catchment characteristics in an attempt to identify those factors driving losses of the pesticide to water. An assessment was also made of the robustness of the monitoring strategy used, which was assumed to represent typical water industry practice, and is currently being used to develop catchment management plans. It was found that exceedance of the European Union pesticide standard (0.1 μg/L) during the October–December slug pellet application period is commonplace. Peak concentrations were generally in the 0.4–0.6 μg/L range although sometimes were an order of magnitude higher.     

Water-sensitive planning: integrating water considerations into urban and regional planning

Water-sensitive planning (WSP) is an approach to sustainable development that integrates water considerations into urban and regional planning. Following a literature survey and a condensed report of our 15 years of studies, the paper presents WSP's goals, domains, principles and practices and the paradigms that underpin them, with special attention to stormwater management. It encompasses all planning scales, from the building lot to the catchment area. The paper ends with suggested generic planning principles that evolved with the growth of WSP but are intended to also serve other domains of planning for sustainable development.     

A proposal for managing wastewater in Harare, Zimbabwe

This paper deals with wastewater management in Harare, in the Lake Chivero catchment area of Zimbabwe. It aims at developing a sustainable system for managing water and nutrients and is based on the literature and a water quality monitoring study conducted from June 2000 to December 2001. This study has shown serious water pollution problems due to urbanisation in the catchment. A ‘three‐step strategic approach’ to urban (waste)water management was used as a basis for formulating solutions. The short‐term solutions include reduction of wastewater volume in industries and households, reducing wastewater flows by 24% and total phosphorus by 5%. The medium‐term solutions involve treating wastewater to high standards, resource recovery and reuse, and controlling upstream sources of pollution, and thus would reduce the lake total nitrogen and total phosphorus levels to about 0.4 and 0.07 mg/L, respectively. A long‐term solution was suggested based on pollution prevention and direct reuse, treatment at onsite and decentralised levels followed by reuse, and minimal disposal of the remaining effluents combined with the stimulation of the self‐purification capacity of the receiving rivers. It was concluded that it is feasible to reduce pollution levels in the catchment by applying these phased developments.     

The management of urban surface water drainage in England and Wales

Partly in response to the UK flooding events of 2007, a number of reports have recently been produced addressing the legislative, administrative, institutional and structural practices that are required to improve urban surface water management and hence reduce future flooding incidents and associated pollution impacts. This paper addresses the principal barriers to progress that have been identified and how these are likely to be overcome. Improved and integrated organisational structures, process and procedures are required and relationships between flood risk management and water quality need to be addressed at regional, area and local levels as well as legislative clarification on surface water discharges. Nontechnical aspects will need to be supported by new modelling approaches for flood risk prediction at both local and catchment scale with effective communication systems and tools being developed and implemented for full and effective stakeholder participation.     

Managing Agricultural Pollution Using a Linked Geographical Information System and Non-Point Source Pollution Model

This study documents the development of a link between a geographical information system (GIS) and a non-point source pollution model. The GIS ARC/INFO was linked to the agricultural non-point source pollution model and ORACLE data sources. Application of the system is demonstrated using the Bedford-Ouse catchment as a suitable case study. Water quality impacts are predicted from source data describing topography, soils, land use and river network. The model results were in agreement with observed nitrate concentrations at the catchment outlet, and more appropriate data sources are considered to be the main priority for improving model predictive ability. Management scenarios were established to assess the impact of changing agricultural management practices on predicted water quality. The approach has significant potential for the management of agricultural pollution in the UK.     

Sustainable Development for River Catchments

This paper deals with some of the strategic issues arising from the consideration of the sustainable development of river catchments. Principles and best practice are discussed, both in general terms and as challenges to professionals involved with the coordinated planning and management of river catchments.
Points are illustrated with reference to experience in the highly developed River Thames catchment, where the many demands made on the water environment require complex multifunctional decision-making.
Sustainability offers a new paradigm and common language to support decision-making for sustainable development. The appropriate institutional and legislative framework will be supported by tools such as environmental appraisal, strategic environmental assessment and economic instruments. Within this context, the implicit partnership between asset management planning, catchment management planning and land-use planning has the potential to deliver sustainable development for the water environment, through a process which may be called 'total' catchment planning.
It is suggested that source control will play a major role in the search for 'prevention rather than cure' as a basic principle of sustainability.     

Towards quantification of uncertainty in predicting water quality failures in integrated catchment model studies

This paper describes the development and application of a method for estimating uncertainty in the prediction of sewer flow quantity and quality and how this may impact on the prediction of water quality failures in integrated catchment modelling (ICM) studies. The method is generic and readily adaptable for use with different flow quality prediction models that are used in ICM studies. Use is made of the elicitation concept, whereby expert knowledge combined with a limited amount of data are translated into probability distributions describing the level of uncertainty of various input and model variables. This type of approach can be used even if little or no site specific data is available. Integrated catchment modelling studies often use complex deterministic models. To apply the results of elicitation in a case study, a computational reduction method has been developed in order to determine levels of uncertainty in model outputs with a reasonably practical level of computational effort. This approach was applied to determine the level of uncertainty in the number of water quality failures predicted by an ICM study, due to uncertainty associated with input and model parameters of the urban drainage model component of the ICM. For a small case study catchment in the UK, it was shown that the predicted number of water quality failures in the receiving water could vary by around 45% of the number predicted without consideration of model uncertainty for dissolved oxygen and around 32% for unionised ammonia. It was concluded that the potential overall levels of uncertainty in the ICM outputs could be significant. Any solutions designed using modelling approaches that do not consider uncertainty associated with model input and model parameters may be significantly over-dimensioned or under-dimensioned. With changing external inputs, such as rainfall and river flows due to climate change, better accounting for uncertainty is required.     

Relationships between environmental metrics and water temperature: a case study of Polish lowland rivers

The article presents relations between environmental metrics and water temperature in small Polish lowland rivers and describes their spatial temperature patterns. Water temperature data was obtained from measurements conducted on nine sites during summer of 2015 with the use of digital data loggers. Selected environmental metrics in the catchments areas were calculated and correlated with water temperature parameters. The results showed that water temperature patterns were generally similar across catchments, except for sites with strong human influence, which caused a decrease in the number and power of statistically significant relationships between environmental metrics and water temperature parameters. The best‐explained water temperature parameter was the minimum and mean daily range, while the best environmental predictors were the Strahler order, catchment area, mean catchment elevation and forested area. Most of the relations proved to be theoretically justified and could be used to further improve temperature monitoring studies and the management of water resources.     

Impact of selected agricultural management options on the reduction of nitrogen loads in three representative meso scale catchments in Central Germany

Nitrogen inputs into surface waters from diffuse sources are still unduly high and the assessment of mitigation measures is associated with large uncertainties. The objective of this paper is to investigate selected agricultural management scenarios on nitrogen loads and to assess the impact of differing catchment characteristics in central Germany. A new modelling approach, which simulates spatially distributed N-transport and transformation processes in soil and groundwater, was applied to three meso scale catchments with strongly deviating climate, soil and topography conditions. The approach uses the integrated modelling framework JAMS to link an agro-ecosystem, a rainfall-runoff and a groundwater nitrogen transport model. Different agricultural management measures with deviating levels of acceptance were analysed in the three study catchments.N-leaching rates in all three catchments varied with soil type, the lowest leaching rates being obtained for loess soil catchment (18.5 kg nitrate N ha^− 1 yr^− 1) and the highest for the sandy soils catchment (41.2 kg nitrate N ha^− 1 yr^− 1). The simulated baseflow nitrogen concentrations varied between the catchments from 1 to 6 mg N l^− 1, reflecting the nitrogen reduction capacity of the subsurfaces. The management scenarios showed that the highest N leaching reduction could be achieved by good site-adapted agricultural management options. Nitrogen retention in the subsurface did not alter the ranking of the management scenarios calculated as losses from the soil zone. The reduction effect depended strongly on site specific conditions, especially climate, soil variety and the regional formation of the crop rotations.     

The Impact of the Water Framework Directive on Catchment- Management Planning in the British Isles (Abridged)

The water framework Directive is proposed as a mechanism for applying river-basin management across the European Union. Proposals for River-Basin Management Plans might have an impact on the present system of Local Environment Agency Plans and on schemes which are used in the British Isles to provide river management on a catchment basis. For this study, representatives from the Environment Agency, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and European Parliament advisors were interviewed. In addition, Local Environment Agency Plans were assessed for compatibility with the requirements of River-Basin Management Plans.     

The Examination of Drinking Water in the Mid-1990s

This paper describes the principles underlying water quality examination in a large modern water company, and compares these present-day techniques with the approach which was used 100 years ago. Although the analytical technology and regulatory framework for water testing has changed out of all recognition in this period, the author argues that many of the fundamental concepts remain the same. This illustrates the foresight of our predecessors. Nevertheless, despite, or perhaps because of, our modern analytical skills, public confidence in the high quality of current water supplies is being 'strained' by our ability to detect more and more minute trace contaminants in water. The challenge to water quality managers of today is to demonstrate to their customers that present approaches to water examination provide a very high degree of reassurance about water safety, not the converse.     

DOMESTIC CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS OF THE LEGITIMACY OF WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OPTIONS: A CASE STUDY OF THE RIVER NENE CATCHMENT, UK.

Article 14 of the Water Framework Directive requires member states to demonstrate that they are enabling increased public participation in water governance issues at the river basin level. Yet little research has been conducted to understand in what regard water governance bodies are held by the public. In particular, few studies have concentrated on which water resource management issues concern consumers at the catchment and sub-catchment scale within England and Wales. A household study was conducted in 2003 along the River Nene catchment in the east of England to understand in more detail the range of these consumer perceptions and attitudes at different spatial scales, focusing on water resource management issues such as flooding, sector performance and policy making. The results of the survey demonstrate that formulating policy at the catchment scale does not always capture the diversity of opinion or the range of legitimacy issues which concern consumers at the sub-catchment level. The paper concludes that public participation initiatives may be improved by paying closer attention to the various legitimacy concerns at the catchment and sub-catchment scales.     

Integration for sustainable catchment management

Sustainable catchment management requires increased levels of integration between groups of natural and social scientists, land and water users, land and water managers, planners and policy makers across spatial scales. Multiple policy drivers, covering urban and rural communities and their relationships with land and water use, have resulted in the need for an integrated decision making framework that operates from the strategic national scale to the local catchment scale. Large gaps in integration between policies are resulting in uncertain outcomes of conflicting and competing policy measures. The need for further integration is illustrated by little or no reductions in nitrate and phosphate levels in surface and ground waters in England and Wales. There is a requirement for natural scientists to consider the socio-economic setting and implications of their research. Moreover, catchment system level science requires natural and social scientists to work more closely, to provide robust analysis of the state of the environment that fully considers the bio-physical, social, political and economic settings. The combined use of spatial technologies, scenarios, indicators and multicriteria analysis are increasingly being used to enable improved integration for sustainable catchment management.     

Short- and long-term variations of norovirus concentrations in the Meuse river during a 2-year study period

Faecally impacted surface waters used for drinking water production may encompass risk for norovirus infections. To be able to assess a possible health risk, noroviruses should be quantified and fluctuations identified. In 2001, norovirus concentrations in the river Meuse displayed a seasonal distribution with high peaks during wintertime as determined by RT-PCR on serially diluted RNA. An intensified day-by-day sampling scheme in the winter of 2002/2003 revealed that the winter peak consisted of several peaks of varying duration and magnitude, possibly due to contamination events in the catchment. The highest estimated concentration was 1700 PCR-detectable units per litre (95% CI 250-8000), which if coinciding with failing treatment could lead to significant numbers in drinking water. Adaptive dynamic filtering was shown to adequately predict subsequent sample concentrations. If valid, such analyses could prove to be useful as early warning systems in risk management of water sources.     

Understanding data requirements for trihalomethane formation modelling in water supply systems

Tighter regulatory standards for trihalomethanes in drinking water have been introduced in many countries in response to improved epidemiological evidence. This has led to the need to model better the THM concentrations in water distribution systems in order to manage efficiently economic, chemical and microbiological factors. THM modelling is a challenging process given the complex chemistry and dependence on river catchment, water treatment works and distribution system characteristics. It is demonstrated that a good understanding of the system from raw water to tap is needed if cost effective models of appropriate fidelity are to be produced. For appropriate systems models can incorporate, through empirical relationships, raw water quality variations based on river flow predictions, aspects of unit process management decision making variables as well as distribution system characteristics. In many systems model fidelity and hence efficient management is constrained by a lack of knowledge of system response.     

Perspectives on multi-benefit water reuse systems: A confluence of water and wastewater management planning

The multiple benefits of water reuse have yet to be fully realized in our urban water management systems. One pathway to optimal implementation is to plan for their integration with wider assets in water resource or drainage and wastewater management plans. This paper explores the perspectives of water resource and wastewater management planners. Qualitative data was gathered from a workshop organized by the Chartered Institution for Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) with 25 participants from England's Water Service Providers (WSPs), regulators (Ofwat and the Environment Agency) and consultants working within the UK water sector. The participants acknowledged that water reuse is relevant to both water resource and drainage and wastewater management planning, but that current regulatory and funding frameworks are constraining effective engagement between water resource and drainage and wastewater management planners by encouraging the development of separate plans. A general consensus of the participants was that it would be beneficial to include water reuse technology within current and future Water Resource Management Plans (WRMPs) and Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs). Participants suggested this could be developed through collaborative working partnerships and support from regulatory and funding frameworks that allow for the growth and development of innovative technologies and nature-based solutions. Participants also highlighted a stronger economic case could be made for water reuse technologies if the approach seeks to capture the wider benefits and not only the ‘best value’ solution. Societal acceptance and the availability of good quality data will be key to the successful adoption of any incentivized water reuse schemes.