Managing runoff,water quality and erosion in peatland forestry by peak runoff control

Retention of stormwater can in theory reduce peak flows, sediment and nutrient transport. This study presents results of peak runoff control (PRC) as a water protection method to decrease sediment and nutrient loads from drained peatland forestry in boreal conditions. Peak runoff rate and peak concentrations were reduced. The PRC method reduced suspended solids (SS) load (86%) by reducing flow velocities and improving settling conditions in the ditch network. The method had a considerable effect on SS-bound nutrients, reducing total nitrogen (N_tot) load by 65% and total phosphorus (P_tot) load by 67%. Reductions in velocity resulted in smaller particle size distributions in transported SS. No effect on groundwater elevation was observed and drainage conditions for forestry were maintained. The results clearly show that the PRC method can be used efficiently in peatland forestry as a water protection method to improve water quality.     

城市区域绿色屋顶普及对水量水质的影响

绿色屋顶是城市降雨径流管理的主要措施之一,为了解绿色屋顶普及对城市流域降雨径流量和径流水质的影响,本文以重庆大学虎溪流域为研究载体,评估了绿色屋顶规模化应用与流域降雨产流和径流水质的响应关系.结果表明： 在城市流域进行屋面绿化有助于消减降雨径流以及产污负荷,且屋顶绿化规模和空间分布情景影响降雨径流水质.在屋顶占城市区域总面积的比例为25%、降雨持续时间15 min、降雨强度14.8 mm·h^-1的条件下,当区域内屋顶全部绿化时,峰值降雨径流降低5.3%,降雨径流总量降低31%;总悬浮物（TSS）、总磷（TP）、总氮（TN）的污染负荷分别降低40.0%、31.6%、29.8%,峰值浓度分别降低21.0%、16.0%、-12.2%,平均浓度分别降低13.1%、0.9%、-1.7%;随屋顶绿化率的增加,TSS、TP浓度消减率有所提高,而TN浓度消减率则呈降低趋势,靠近流域总出水口进行屋面绿化,更有利于径流水质的改善.     

Forest river plants and water quality in Ghana

River plants and water chemistry in wet and dry seasons were sampled in a wide range of rivers with variable catchments in the forest zone of Ghana, in order to examine the relationships between the floristic composition within the river and river water and catchment environmental variables.Plant species occurring in the river or on its seasonally flooded banks along 500 m sample stretches were listed in 26 sites. Sample species richness was low (1–17 species per sample, mean 5.9). Only nine species were recorded that are confined to rivers. Cluster analysis defined five floristic groups which differed in catchment area, geology, turbidity and dissolved minerals.Analysis of water chemistry variables by principal components analysis revealed a strong principal gradient (42% of total variance) related to annual rainfall with low ionic concentrations under high rainfall. The second component described seasonal differences in water chemistry. Nitrate and chloride were more concentrated in the dry season, but sulphate and calcium were more concentrated in the wet season.Catchments with higher forest cover yielded more oligotrophic and less turbid water. Catchment geology influenced water chemistry so that sandstone areas yielded clear water, and ancient peneplain areas with bauxitic soil were characterised by exceptionally low silicon concentrations.The association of macrophyte composition with river chemistry and catchment conditions was somewhat tenuous, due to the low number of species, but the low turbidity, oligotrophic rivers under high rainfall and with a high percentage of species-rich forest cover were the more species rich. Prediction of river water quality at the scale of this study are more readily made from a knowledge of catchment rainfall and forest cover than from assessments of river plant composition.     

Water displacement by sewer infrastructure and its effect on the water quality in rivers

Water quality is affected by a complex combination of natural and anthropogenic factors. To assess watershed integrity on a larger scale and for an optimal, cost-effective integrated watershed management, defining linkages between upstream watershed land cover and riverine water quality is essential. A correct upstream area calculation is an absolute necessity to reach conclusive results, but remains problematic in human influenced catchments. Especially sewer infrastructures (including wastewater treatment plants) are difficult to incorporate. We developed a method that allows us to integrate the sewer system in the upstream calculations and applied it on the Nete catchment in Belgium. Our results show strong changes in results compared to standard runoff methods. We conclude that if sewer systems are not incorporated in upstream area calculation, the impact of human activities on the water quality at a catchment scale estimates will be severely biased. A thorough understanding of the evaluated catchment and a correct translation of the different hydrological flow paths in the upstream area calculation is absolutely necessary to gain reliable results.     

Hydrologic and water quality impacts of biofuel feedstock production in the Ohio River Basin

This study addresses the uncertainties related to potential changes in land use and management and associated impacts on hydrology and water quality resulting from increased production of biofuel from the conventional and cellulosic feedstock. The Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to assess the impacts on regional and field scale evapotranspiration, soil moisture content, stream flow, sediment, and nutrient loadings in the Ohio River Basin. The model incorporates spatially and temporally detailed hydrologic, climate and agricultural practice data that are pertinent to simulate biofuel feedstock production, watershed hydrology and water quality. Three future biofuel production scenarios in the region were considered, including a feedstock projection from the DOE Billion‐Ton (BT2) Study, a change in corn rotations to continuous corn, and harvest of 50% corn stover. The impacts were evaluated on the basis of relative changes in hydrology and water quality from historical baseline and future business‐as‐usual conditions of the basin. The overall impact on water quality is an order of magnitude higher than the impact on hydrology. For all the three future scenarios, the sub‐basin results indicated an overall increase in annual evapotranspiration of up to 6%, a decrease in runoff up to 10% and minimal change in soil moisture. The sediment and phosphorous loading at both regional and field levels increased considerably (up to 40–90%) for all the biofuel feedstock scenario considered, while the nitrogen loading increased up to 45% in some regions under the BT2 Study scenario, decreased up to 10% when corn are grown continuously instead of in rotations, and changed minimally when 50% of the stover are harvested. Field level analyses revealed significant variability in hydrology and water quality impacts that can further be used to identify suitable locations for the feedstock productions without causing major impacts on water quantity and quality.     

Mesohabitat-specific macroinvertebrate assemblage responses to water quality variation in mid-continent (North America) great rivers

We compared the responsiveness of macroinvertebrate assemblages to variation in water quality (ions, nutrients, dissolved metals, and suspended sediment) in two mesohabitats within the main channel of three North American great rivers, the Upper Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio. Based on about 400 paired samples, we examined the responsiveness of benthic assemblages sampled in the littoral zone and assemblages sampled from the surface of woody snags in the main channel. The assemblages in the two mesohabitats were different in all rivers. Taxa richness was much higher in the benthos than on snags. Macroinvertebrate assemblage response to water quality variation was weak on the Mississippi River, but the reasons for this are unknown. Based on analysis of the similarity between the composition of assemblages from groups of sites with high and low concentrations of water quality variables, benthic assemblages were only slightly more sensitive to water chemistry variation than were snag assemblages. Results of two-sample comparisons between groups of sites with high and low concentrations of water quality variables were consistent with rank correlations of assemblage metrics with water quality. In general, there was little difference between habitats in response to variation in water quality on any river. Our simple method of snag sampling in great rivers is usually much easier than littoral benthic sampling because it does not require wading. Snag sampling in large rivers has some limitations (e.g., natural snags are sometimes absent, samples are semi-quantitative), but lack of sensitivity to water quality gradients compared to the benthos is not among them.     

Erosion processes alter water quality in a stream within a small catchment in the Upper Lusatia Region in Saxony

This paper focuses on consequences of erosion processes on the water quality in a small catchment mainly used for agriculture. Due to the silty soils with small infiltration capacity and some steep slopes, much suspended sediment is carried with the surface runoff into the river. To gain detailed knowledge about the dynamic of suspended particle concentration in the stream, particularly the intensity and the duration of the pollution, continual measurements of turbidity and conductivity have been done. Additionally water samples have been automatically taken regulated by the streamflow and have been analysed in the lab to determine the particle concentration and some dissolved chemical substances such as nitrate and heavy metals. From those measurements a regression between turbidity and suspended particle concentration was derived as basis to calculate suspended load. Results showed a typical hysteresis with bigger particles being transported within the fast rising limb than in the falling limb of the flood waves. Moreover, it was also found, that nitrate concentration was lower during the summer and early autumn than in spring with the same discharge.     

The use of turbidimeters in suspended sediment research

Accurate characterisation of the trend in suspended sediment concentration in streams throughout runoff events requires a sampling interval much shorter than the one hour typically used. For logistical reasons this is not usually feasible, so continuously recording turbidimeters offer a potential alternative. The variety of correlations and relationships between sediment concentration and turbidity reported in the literature is not surprising in view of the many confounding effects present in natural stream systems. Data from five sites in a small forested catchment indicated variability in the turbidity-suspended sediment concentration relationship, but improvements were obtained by considering the effects of very fine sediment and background water colour. Throughout runoff events variations in sediment properties, organic acids concentration and turbulence can occur. It is concluded that a good linear relationship between turbidity and suspended sediment concentration should not necessarily be expected and any observed hysteresis could actually help explain erosion and transport processes. The detail and continuity of data generated by turbidimeters provides the opportunity for greater understanding of storm sediment dynamics, however, calibration requires careful consideration of site characteristics.     

模拟降雨下喀斯特坡耕地土壤养分输出机制

喀斯特区坡耕地水土及养分流失不仅是该区土地质量退化、土地生产力衰退主要原因,同时也是该区地下水质污染的重要因素。为揭示喀斯特坡耕地地表和地下二元空间结构下的土壤养分流失机制,以喀斯特坡耕地为研究对象,通过模拟其地表微地貌及地下孔(裂)隙构造特征,采用人工模拟降雨试验研究不同雨强下喀斯特坡耕地地表及地下水土及其氮、磷、钾流失特征。结果表明:(1)小雨强(50mm/h)和中雨强下(70mm/h),喀斯特坡耕地坡面产流主要以地下产流为主;大雨强下(90mm/h),地表径流高于地下径流;产沙方式则表现为由小雨的地表和地下产沙并重到中大雨强的地表产沙为主的一个转变过程。(2)在降雨侵蚀过程中,径流各养分输出浓度均表现出一定的初期冲刷效应,受土壤吸附作用影响,雨强对全钾(TK)和全氮(TN)的影响较全磷(TP)明显。(3)地表径流、地表泥沙和总泥沙各养分输出负荷均随雨强增大而增加,坡面径流泥沙总的TK输出负荷以泥沙为主,而TN和TP输出负荷则以径流为主;TP和TN在径流的输出负荷上以地下径流输出为主(其中TP地表负荷比在11.6%—46.2%,TN在7.0%—48.5%之间),而TK则以二者并重(地表负荷比在43.5%—57.0%之间);各养分在泥沙的输出负荷上则均以地表泥沙流失为主,其负荷比均在54.5%以上。研究结果可为喀斯特区坡耕地水土流失及养分流失的源头控制提供基本参数和科学依据。     

Cost effective prediction of the eutrophication status of lakes and reservoirs

1. Eutrophication is a serious threat in many parts of the world, and identifying the environmental factors that determine the spatial distribution of eutrophicated waterbodies as well as the development of management tools is a challenge. 2. In this study, data from the Ile‐de‐France region were analysed to determine if catchment scale environmental variables could predict concentrations of chlorophyll a (used as a proxy for eutrophication status) of artificial lakes and reservoirs. 3. General additive models (GAM) and random forest models (RF) displayed greater predictive power than generalised linear models, indicating the importance of non‐monotonic relationships. Using RF modelling, very high predictive accuracy was achieved for both continuous and binomial (eutrophic or not) response variables (continuous: R² = 0.715; binomial: kappa = 0.764, 89% of waterbodies were accurately predicted). The better predictive power and robustness of RF versus GAM was attributed to the formers ability to better handle complex interactions between predictors and to account for threshold effects. 4. Our results confirmed the close link between the water quality of lakes and reservoirs and the characteristics of their catchments. Moreover, we also showed that (i) simple (e.g. linear and/or monotonic) relationships between catchment land use and water quality were only found for sub‐regional datasets, and (ii) land use needs to be considered in association with complementary environmental variables (hydromorphological variables) to best assess its impact on water quality.     

Stream macroinvertebrate response to catchment urbanisation (Georgia, U.S.A.)

SUMMARY 1. The effects of catchment urbanisation on water quality were examined for 30 streams (stratified into 15, 50 and 100 km² ± 25% catchments) in the Etowah River basin, Georgia, U.S.A. We examined relationships between land cover (implying cover and use) in these catchments (e.g. urban, forest and agriculture) and macroinvertebrate assemblage attributes using several previously published indices to summarise macroinvertebrate response. Based on a priori predictions as to mechanisms of biotic impairment under changing land cover, additional measurements were made to assess geomorphology, hydrology and chemistry in each stream. 2. We found strong relationships between catchment land cover and stream biota. Taxon richness and other biotic indices that reflected good water quality were negatively related to urban land cover and positively related to forest land cover. Urban land cover alone explained 29–38% of the variation in some macroinvertebrate indices. Reduced water quality was detectable at c. >15% urban land cover. 3. Urban land cover correlated with a number of geomorphic variables such as stream bed sediment size (–) and total suspended solids (+) as well as a number of water chemistry variables including nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations (+), specific conductance (+) and turbidity (+). Biotic indices were better predicted by these reach scale variables than single, catchment scale land cover variables. Multiple regression models explained 69% of variation in total taxon richness and 78% of the variation in the Invertebrate Community Index (ICI) using phi variability, specific conductance and depth, and riffle phi, specific conductance and phi variability, respectively. 4. Indirect ordination analysis was used to describe assemblage and functional group changes among sites and corroborate which environmental variables were most important in driving differences in macroinvertebrate assemblages. The first axis in a non‐metric multidimensional scaling ordination was highly related to environmental variables (slope, specific conductance, phi variability; adj. R²=0.83) that were also important in our multiple regression models. 5. Catchment urbanisation resulted in less diverse and more tolerant stream macroinvertebrate assemblages via increased sediment transport, reduced stream bed sediment size and increased solutes. The biotic indices that were most sensitive to environmental variation were taxon richness, EPT richness and the ICI. Our results were largely consistent over the range in basin size we tested.     

汤溪水库富营养化特征与水质管理对策

通过2003年对广东省汤溪水库水生态学进行调查,分析了该水库的富营养化特征,并从流域管理和水动力学两个方面对水库水质管理对策进行了探讨。汤溪水库为中度富营养化水体,具有明显时空分布差异,丰水期富营养程度高于枯水期,溪头河流区高于新桥河流区。蓝藻是水库浮游植物的主要优势类群,其中引发水华的铜绿微囊藻(Microcystis aeruginosa)为优势种。水库上游集水流域分布近30万居民,大量的生活排污和农业污染形成了主要的外源污染源,这些外源污染的输入是水库水体营养盐的主要来源;合理处理上游居民生活垃圾、减少生活污染中磷含量、增加流域和库区周围植被覆盖、合理使用农业化肥是降低水库表层水体中营养盐浓度的主要途径。由于该水库的蓝藻和富营养化水平直接与水体的稳定性有关,利用对水库排水的可控制性调节水库水体的稳定性,可作为控制蓝藻水华发生的有效途径。     

Impacts of inter-basin water transfer on the water quality of receiving reservoirs in a tropical semi-arid region

Inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) involves the transport of water from one geographically distinct basin to another to balance the distribution of water resources. Although the socio-economic benefits of implementing these projects are well recognized, little is known about the subsequent effects on the water quality of the receiving systems. We evaluated the effects of an IBWT on the water quality of three receiving reservoirs of an intermittent river in a semi-arid region. We compared the similarity among the reservoirs before and after the IBWT to assess how the reservoirs responded to the introduction of water. Although the last two reservoirs that have received water have become similar in terms of physical and chemical characteristics and algal biomass (chlorophyll-a), the first reservoir has not. The IBWT resulted in an improvement in the water quality of the first reservoir but a decrease in the water quality of the two successive reservoirs, along with a significant increase in algal biomass. Long river sections located upstream that were dry at the time of IBWT probably contributed nutrients to the water as it moved downstream and into the reservoirs. Significant differences in the water quality were observed for different sampling months after the IBWT, but not for different sampling depths. Before the IBWT, the predictor variables for algal biomass were basically transparency and non-algal turbidity, with which it established a positive relationship. After IBWT, however, algal biomass also showed a positive relationship with pH and temperature. We conclude that IBWT affects the water quality of receiving reservoirs and that the responses are reservoir specific. IBWT also increases the complexity of the correlations of physical and chemical variables with algal biomass.

     

Limnological research can improve and reduce the cost of monitoring and control of water quality

An evaluation of the programmes for control and monitoring of water quality in Sweden has demonstrated many short-comings. This paper discusses how improvements can be achieved by using new limnological knowledge.High-frequency sampling and analysis of mixed samples gives reliable average values with reduced costs. Strong correlations between, for instance, summer average values and summer maximum values, can be used for predicting the worst possible situation, which would be difficult to analyse by low-frequency sampling. Phosphorus load and lake response relationships are valuable tools for lake management and for establishing water quality criteria in physical planning. Future control may be further improved if limnological research gives better information on relationships between structure and function of aquatic ecosystems in relation to the form and size of the water body, water flushing rate, inputs from watershed and air space, etc.     

A multi-scale approach to prioritize wetland restoration for watershed-level water quality improvement

Wetland restoration is commonly presented as an important strategy for maintaining and enhancing the water quality and ecological capital of watershed-scale ecosystems. Prioritizing restoration sites on the landscape is often a haphazard process based on widely held, though often untested, assumptions about relationships between watershed characteristics and water quality. We present a framework to target and prioritize wetland restoration locations using both regional and watershed-level screening models. The regression-tree and random forest models presented in this paper identify watershed variables with the strongest relationships to a given water quality parameter, present a clear hierarchy of variable importance, and present approximate thresholds in watershed area where these variables express the greatest impact on water quality. The proportion of watersheds classified as prior-converted agricultural land was an important predictor of both ortho and total phosphorus. Fortunately because prior-converted agricultural lands were historically wetlands, they are often very suitable for wetland restoration. These sites often have poorly-drained soils requiring artificial drainage to be suitable for agriculture. These drainage systems become conduits for transporting phosphorus from agricultural field and to area streams and rivers. Maintaining natural land-cover within stream buffers is identified as another important predictor of water quality. This seems to be especially true with regard to NO₃–NO₂ concentrations. Our model results support specific management recommendations including: (a) exclusion of agricultural land-uses from riparian buffers, (b) maintaining or increasing watershed-level wetland-cover and (c) reducing wetland fragmentation.     

Application of an unsupervised artificial neural network technique to multivariant surface water quality data

Surface water contamination from agricultural and urban runoff and wastewater discharges from industrial and municipal activities is of major concern to people worldwide. Classical models can be insufficient to visualise the results because the water quality variables used to describe dynamic pollution sources are complex, multivariable, and nonlinearly related. Artificial intelligence techniques with the ability to analyse multivariant water quality data by means of a sophisticated visualisation capacity can offer an alternative to current models. In this study, the Kohonen self-organising feature maps (SOM) neural network was initially applied to analyse the complex nonlinear relationships among multivariable surface water quality variables using the component planes of the variables to determine the complex behaviour of water quality parameters. The dependencies between water quality variables were extracted and interpreted using the pattern analysis visualised in component planes. For further investigation, the k-means clustering algorithm was used to determine the optimal number of clusters by partitioning the maps and utilising the Davies–Bouldin clustering index, leading to seven groups or clusters corresponding to water quality variables. The results reveal that the concentrations of Na, K, Cl, NH₄-N, NO₂-N, o-PO₄, component planes of organic matter (pV), and dissolved oxygen (DO) were significantly affected by seasonal changes, and that the SOM technique is an efficient tool with which to analyse and determine the complex behaviour of multidimensional surface water quality data. These results suggest that this technique could also be applied to other environmentally sensitive areas such as air and groundwater pollution.     

Simulation of watershed hydrology and stream water quality under land use and climate change scenarios in Teshio River watershed,northern Japan

Quantitative prediction of environmental impacts of land-use and climate change scenarios in a watershed can serve as a basis for developing sound watershed management schemes. Water quantity and quality are key environmental indicators which are sensitive to various external perturbations. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impacts of land-use and climate changes on water quantity and quality at watershed scale and to understand relationships between hydrologic components and water quality at that scale under different climate and land-use scenarios. We developed an approach for modeling and examining impacts of land-use and climate change scenarios on the water and nutrient cycles. We used an empirical land-use change model (Conversion of Land Use and its Effects, CLUE) and a watershed hydrology and nutrient model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool, SWAT) for the Teshio River watershed in northern Hokkaido, Japan. Predicted future land-use change (from paddy field to farmland) under baseline climate conditions reduced loads of sediment, total nitrogen (N) and total phosphorous (P) from the watershed to the river. This was attributable to higher nutrient uptake by crops and less nutrient mineralization by microbes, reduced nutrient leaching from soil, and lower water yields on farmland. The climate changes (precipitation and temperature) were projected to have greater impact in increasing surface runoff, lateral flow, groundwater discharge and water yield than would land-use change. Surface runoff especially decreased in April and May and increased in March and September with rising temperature. Under the climate change scenarios, the sediment and nutrient loads increased during the snowmelt and rainy seasons, while N and P uptakes by crops increased during the period when fertilizer is normally applied (May through August). The sediment and nutrient loads also increased with increasing winter rainfall because of warming in that season. Organic nutrient mineralization and nutrient leaching increased as well under climate change scenarios. Therefore, we predicted annual water yield, sediment and nutrient loads to increase under climate change scenarios. The sediment and nutrient loads were mainly supplied from agricultural land under land use in each climate change scenario, suggesting that riparian zones and adequate fertilizer management would be a potential mitigation strategy for reducing these negative impacts of land-use and climate changes on water quality. The proposed approach provides a useful source of information for assessing the consequences of hydrology processes and water quality in future land-use and climate change scenarios.     

黄土高原流域水沙变化研究进展

人类活动和气候变化是影响流域水文过程的两大驱动因素,径流输沙是流域水文过程的总体反映,变化环境下径流输沙的变化规律与成因分析是水文学和全球变化研究的热点问题。黄土高原是我国水土流失最严重的地区。20世纪50年代以来,黄土高原地区开展了大规模的生态环境建设和水土流失综合治理,显著改变了流域土地利用和植被覆盖。下垫面条件改变与气候变化综合作用,使得流域水沙情势发生剧变。围绕黄土高原流域水沙变化的时空尺度特征与驱动机制,总结了径流输沙和水沙关系变化特征的研究结果,归纳了径流输沙变化的归因分析方法与人类活动和气候变化影响的贡献分割结果,探讨了气候变化、植被恢复、水土保持工程措施以及流域景观格局对水沙变化的影响机制。未来应加强流域水沙演变的时空尺度特征特别是水沙关系非线性特征的定量研究,阐明极端事件对水沙动态的影响与贡献;开展水沙变化影响机制的多要素综合解析,发展耦合地表覆被动态特征和气候变化的降雨-径流-输沙模型,揭示生态恢复与水沙演变过程互馈机制;开展未来气候变化、社会经济发展和生态建设工程情景下水沙动态的趋势预测,为黄土高原生态综合治理和水资源管理与黄河水沙调控提供策略建议。     

Effect of land use types on stream water quality under seasonal variation and topographic characteristics in the Wei River basin,China

The effect of topographic characteristics of land uses on stream water quality must be addressed for a better understanding of the complex relationship between land use and stream water quality. In this study, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Pearson correlation analysis were used to determine whether there were relationship between land use types and stream water quality at the sub-basin scale in the Wei River basin, China, during the dry and rainy seasons in 2012. Temporal variation of these relations was observed, indicating that the relationships between water quality variables and different land uses were weaker in rainy seasons than that in dry seasons. Compared with other land uses, agriculture and urban lands had a stronger relationship with water quality variables in both rainy and dry seasons. Topographic characteristics of land use were employed to further analyze these relationships. The results showed that seasonal variation also occurred in the complex relationship, and land uses in steeper slopes generally had a stronger influence on stream water quality than those in flatter ones. For the riparian zone of each sampling site, the slope coefficients were weaker than those at the sub-basin scale. Land use type near stream water was generally a better indicator for the effectiveness of water quality. These results suggest that the slope and proximity should be taken into account for better land use management.