Interaction of esker groundwater with headwater lakes and streams

n/

Groundwater-surface water interaction between an esker aquifer and a drained fen

n/

GENESIS project: Synthesis and Policy Recommendations:Deliverable D6.5: GENESIS, Work Package 6

The GENESIS project set out, principally, to review and develop scientific knowledge regarding groundwater systems, and to develop tools for better integrated management of these systems with related aquatic and terrestrial groundwater dependent ecosystems. The objectives of the project over its five year duration also included development of indicator methods, and of integrated model simulations applied to a series of representative European groundwater systems that incorporate new components on climate, land-use and pollution input changes. Special efforts have been made to link the project research to the ongoing process of implementing the Water Framework and Groundwater Directives (WFD and GWD respectively) – for example, examining the role of biogeochemical processes in pollutant degradation and the vulnerability of groundwater systems in the context of the GWD art.4(c) “appropriate investigation”. In addition, new methods were to be developed for assessing cost-effectiveness and the economic impacts resulting from changes in groundwater management practices across a range of the project case areas.This report aims to set out the main conclusions from each of the constituent work packages under which work has been done for the project. It will then go on to detail those conclusions that have relevance to policy making at the EU level, and those that are most relevant to decision makers at the Member State level as they seek to implement the WFD and GWD. Work Packages 1 and 7 have been excluded from this report as they were not concerned with substantive research work.<br/

Projecting the impacts of the bioeconomy on Nordic land use and freshwater quality and quantity-An overview

This paper synthesizes a five-year project (BIOWATER) that assessed the effects of a developing bioeconomy on Nordic freshwaters. We used a catchment perspective and combined several approaches: comparative analyses of long-term data sets from well-monitored catchments (agricultural, with forestry, and near pristine) across Fennoscandia, catchment biogeochemical modelling and ecosystem services assessment for integration. Various mitigation measures were also studied. Benchmark Shared Socio-economic Pathways were downscaled and articulated in dialogue with national stakeholder representatives leading to five Nordic Bioeconomy Pathways (NBPs) describing plausible but different trajectories of societal development towards 2050.These were then used for catchment modelling and ecosystem service assessment. Key findings from the work synthesized here are: (a) The monitoring results from 69 catchments demonstrate that agricultural lands exported an order of magnitude more nutrients than natural catchments (medians 44 vs 4 kg P km-2 y-1 and 1450 vs 139 kg N km-2 y-1) whilst forests were intermediate (7 kg P km-2 y-1 and 200 kg N km-2 y-1). (b) Our contrasting scenarios led to substantial differences in land use patterns, which affected river flow as well as nutrient loads in two of the four modelled catchments (Danish Odense angstrom and Norwegian Skuterud), but not in two others (Swedish catchment C6 and Finnish Simojoki). (c) Strongly contrasting scenarios (NBP1 maximizing resource circularity versus NBP5 maximizing short-term profit) were found to lead to similar monetary estimates of total societal benefits, though for different underlying reasons - a pattern similar across the six studied Nordic catchments. (d) The ecological status of small to medium sized rivers in agricultural landscapes benefitted greatly from an increase in riparian forest cover from 10 % to 60 %. Riparian buffer strips, constructed wetlands, rewetting of ditched peatlands, and similar nature-based solutions optimize natural biogeochemical processes and thus can help in mitigating negative impacts of intensified biomass removal on water quality

The value of scientific information on climate change: a choice experiment on Rokua esker, Finland

This article presents an application of the choice experiment method in order to provide estimates of economic values generated by water quantity improvements in the environment. More importantly, this is the first choice experiment study valuing scientific information and in particular scientific information on climate change. The case study of interest is Rokua in Northern Finland, a groundwater dependent ecosystem very sensitive to climate change and natural variability. The study deals with the uncertainty about the actual dynamics of the system and the effect of future climate change by exploring whether the public values sustained provision of resources for scientific research to better understand long-term environmental changes in Rokua. Data are analysed using a nested multinomial logit and an error component model. Evidence from this study suggests that individuals are willing to pay in order to assure scientific research so as to better understand long-term environmental changes. As a result, policy should consider investing in and supporting related research. Other aspects of water management policy valued by the public are water quantity, recreation, and total land income. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the European Union via the 7th Framework Program GENESIS: Groundwater and dependent ecosystems: New Scientific basis on climate change and land-use impact for the update of the EU Groundwater Directive; WP-6 Groundwater systems management: scenarios, risk assessment, cost-efficient measures and legal aspects. We finally thank two anonymous referees for constructive and insightful comments Koundouri, P.; Kougea, E.; Stithoua, M.; Ala-Ahob, P.; Eskelinenb, R.; Karjalainenc, T.; Klove, B.... (2012). The Value of Scientific Information on Climate Change: A Choice Experiment on Rokua esker, Finland. Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy. 1(1):85-102. doi:10.1080/21606544.2011.647450 Senia 85 102 1

The role of aluminium and iron in phosphorus removal by treatment peatlands

Wetlands are commonly used to treat phosphorus from the effluent of municipal wastewater plants after conventional treatment and wastewater from various diffuse sources, with good results. The long term phosphorous (P) retention capacity of wetland treatment systems is a key research question. This study examined phosphorus retention in wetland (peat) soil columns in order to clarify the role of aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe) concentrations in wastewater on P removal. Since Al and Fe in wastewater could be expected to increase P uptake by increasing peat sorption capacity, laboratory flow-through column experiments were run for almost 700 days in conditions replicating the natural conditions in treatment wetlands. The study set comprised 18 peat columns and five water types from different origins (municipal wastewater, peat extraction runoff, distilled water with phosphate solutions containing 0.1 or 0.4 mg PO43- L-1, and pure distilled water). To study retention of sudden P peak concentrations, a high P peak was injected into the columns after about 500 days of wastewater loading. The results clearly showed that Al and Fe in input water maintained P removal in peat soils, with Al form also affecting retention processes, and P saturation did not occur. Therefore constructed wetlands can in some cases be safely used without the risk of P saturation. Furthermore, in the high P peak test, the additional P was successfully retained in columns with accumulated metals, showing that artificial addition of Al can be used to increase P retention capacity in peat soils with low sorption capacity. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Protection of groundwater dependent ecosystems:current policies and future management options

Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) include many terrestrial and aquatic systems with high biodiversity and important ecosystem services. The need for protection of these systems has recently received increasing recognition in many regions, including the European Union (EU), as pressures on groundwater are increasing due to increased consumption in agriculture and intensive land use. A key issue is to provide legislative frameworks that safeguard the ecosystem services these systems provide. This paper reviews European legislation and present methods for theoretical frameworks, and hydrological and ecological observations of GDEs. Insights into the current state of research are provided and gaps in scientific knowledge identified. Different restoration and protection measures, such as buffer zones, are presented and evaluated. Recommendations are given for the future protection of GDEs. Future research should focus on nationally important GDE sites to establish conceptual models describing the individual and interactive impacts of multiple stressors on the hydrological and ecological functioning of GDEs. Proactive management is required to protect GDEs from contamination, for example by using extended buffer zones and careful land use planning in the groundwater capture zone.</jats:p

Assimilation of Satellite-Based Data for Hydrological Mapping of Precipitation and Direct Runoff Coefficient for the Lake Urmia Basin in Iran

Water management in arid basins often lacks sufficient hydro-climatological data because, e.g., rain gauges are typically absent at high elevations and inflow to ungauged areas around large closed lakes is difficult to estimate. We sought to improve precipitation and runoff estimation in an arid basin (Lake Urmia, Iran) using methods involving assimilation of satellite-based data. We estimated precipitation using interpolation of rain gauge data by kriging, downscaling the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), and cokriging interpolation of in-situ records with Remote Sensing (RS)-based data. Using RS-based data application in estimations gave more precise results, by compensating for lack of data at high elevations. Cokriging interpolation of rain gauges by TRMM and Digitized Elevation Model (DEM) gave 4-9 mm lower Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) in different years compared with kriging. Downscaling TRMM improved its accuracy by 14 mm. Using the most accurate precipitation result, we modeled annual direct runoff with Kennessey and Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) models. These models use land use, permeability, and slope data. In runoff modeling, Kennessey gave higher accuracy. Calibrating Kennessey reduced the Normalized RMSE (NRMSE) from 1 in the standard model to 0.44. Direct runoff coefficient map by 1 km spatial resolution was generated by calibrated Kennessey. Validation by the closest gauges to the lake gave a NRMSE of 0.41 which approved the accuracy of modeling.Urmia Lake Restoration Committee; University of OuluOpen access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]