SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.34 issue4 author indexsubject indexarticles search
Home Pagealphabetic serial listing  

Services on Demand

Article

Indicators

Related links

  • On index processCited by Google
  • On index processSimilars in Google

Share


Water SA

On-line version ISSN 1816-7950
Print version ISSN 0378-4738

Water SA vol.34 n.4 Pretoria Apr. 2008

 

Integrated nutrient transport modelling with respect to the implementation of the European WFD: The Weiβe Elster Case Study, Germany

 

 

Michael RodeI; Bernd KlauerII; Daniel PetryIV; Martin VolkIII; Gerald WenkI; Dierk WagenscheinI

IUFZ-Helmholtz Centre of Environmental Research, Germany: Department of Aquatic Ecosystem Analysis and Management, Brueckstrasse 3a, 39114 Magdeburg, Germany
IIUFZ-Helmholtz Centre of Environmental Research, Germany: Department of Economics, PO Box 500 136, 04301 Leipzig, Germany
IIIUFZ-Helmholtz Centre of Environmental Research, Germany: Department of Landscape Ecology, PO Box 500 136, 04301 Leipzig, Germany
IVUFZ-Helmholtz Centre of Environmental Research, Germany: Global Water System Project, International Project Office, Walter-Flex-Str. 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany

Correspondence

 

 


ABSTRACT

The goal of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is to protect and enhance the status of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. To reach this objective an integrated methodology for the implementation of the WFD is essential. The methodology presented was developed within an interdisciplinary research project on the highly polluted 4th order Weiβe Elster River basin, a large subcatchment of the Saale basin (Germany), which is part of the UNESCO-IHP HELP program. The project focuses on nutrient management in order to achieve a good ecological status of surface waters. The paper focuses on an integrated modelling of nitrogen transport and comprises combined terrestrial and in-stream transport processes. The mitigation of diffuse and point sources pollution is thereby essential to meet the environmental objectives. Land-use scenarios on both organic farming systems and best management practices were analysed and compared with different strategies to reduce point source. The results show that the possible reduction of nitrogen inputs from point sources is much lower compared to the reduction of diffuse inputs from agricultural land use. The results on in-stream nitrogen transformation show that different morphological factors influence the nitrogen retention considerably. The potential of management measures to reduce nitrogen loads by river restoration measures seems to be limited. This is caused by infrastructural facilities that restrict attaining a natural state of river morphology.

Keywords: river basin management, nutrient transport, river restoration, SWAT, WASP


 

 "Full text available in PDF"

 

References

AMBROSE RB, WOOL TA and MARTIN JL (1993) The Water Quality Simulation Program, WASP5: Model Theory, User's Manual, and Programmer's Guide. US Environmental Protection Agency, Athens, GA, USA.         [ Links ]

ARNOLD JG, WILLIAMS JR, SRINIVASAN R, KING KW and GRIGGS RH (1994) Soil and Water Assessment Tool. USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory, Temple, TX 76502, USA.         [ Links ]

DOHERTY J (2004) PEST - Model Independent Parameter Estimation. (5th edn. of User Manual) Watermark Numerical Computing, Brisbane, Australia.         [ Links ]

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (2000) Directive 2000/60/Ec of the European parliament and of the council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal of the European Communities L 357 22/12/2000. 72 pp.         [ Links ]

GÖMANN H, KREINS P and JULIUS P (2003) Regionalisierung des makroskaligen Angebotsverhaltens landwirtschaftlicher Landnutzer im Elbeeinzugsgebiet bei Szenarien zu Klima- und Agrarmarktänderungen. Endbericht des Teilvorhabens zum GLOWA-Elbe-Projekt: Integrierte Analyse der Auswirkungen des Globalen Wandels auf die Umwelt und die Gesellschaft im Elbegebiet." Forschungsges-ellschaft fur Agrarpolitik und Agrarsoziologie e.V., Bonn.         [ Links ]

KRYSANOVA V and HABERLANDT U (2002) Assessment of nitrogen leaching from arable land in large river basins. Part I. Simulation experiments using a process-based model. Ecol. Model. 150 255-275.         [ Links ]

MARKS R, MÜLLER MJ, LESER H and KLINK H-J (eds.) (1992) Anleitung zur Bewertung des Leistungsvermögens des Landschaftshaushaltes. Vol. Band 229. Selbstverlag des Zentralausschusses fur deutsche Landeskunde, Trier, Germany.         [ Links ]

NASH J and SUTCLIFFE J (1970) River flow forecasting through conceptional models. Part I - a discussion of principles. J. Hydrol. 10 282-290.         [ Links ]

OMLIN M and REICHERT P (1999) A comparison of techniques for the estimation of model prediction uncertainty. Ecol. Model. 115 45-59.         [ Links ]

POTTGIESSER T and HALLE M (2004) Concluding Work on the River Typology according to the Demands of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Project Report. Umweltburo Essen, Germany (in German).         [ Links ]

REICHERT P and VANROLLEGHEM P (2001) Identifiability and uncertainty analysis of the River water Quality Model No. 1. Water Sci. Technol. 43 (7) 329-338.         [ Links ]

SHANAHAN P and ALAM M.M (2001) WASP Version 5.2, Maine Department of Environmental Protection.         [ Links ]

VAN GRIENSVEN A, FRANCOS A and BAUWENS W (2002) Sensitivity analysis and auto-calibration of an integral dynamic model for river water quality. Water Sci. Technol. 45 (5) 321-328.         [ Links ]

WAGENSCHEIN D and RODE M (2008) Modelling the impact of river morphology on nitrogen retention - A case study of the Weiβe Elster River (Germany). Ecol. Model. 211 224-232.         [ Links ]

WAGENSCHEIN D (2006) Einfluss der Gewässermorphologie auf die Nährstoffretention - Modellstudie am Beispiel der mittleren Weiβen Elster. Ph.D. Thesis, Brandenburgisch Technische Universität Cotbus, Germany.         [ Links ]

WARWICK JJ (1999) Enhancement of the hydrodynamic model DYNHYD. Commented source code. WILLMOTT CJ (1982) Some comments on the evaluation of model performance. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 63 1309-1313.         [ Links ]

 

 

Correspondence:
+49 (0)391 8109650
Fax: +49 (0)391 8109699
E-mail: michael.rode@ufz.de

Creative Commons License All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License