Search

The editors of I Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management i and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) are pleased to announce the selection of best papers published in 2021. I Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management i , 17(6), 1151-1161. https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4406 Jonay Neris, Swansea University, Swansea, UK and Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain Cristina Santin, Swansea University, Swansea, UK and UMIB-CSIC, Mieres, Spain Roger Lew, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA Peter R. Robichaud, Rocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service, Moscow, Idaho, USA William J. Elliot, Rocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service, Moscow, Idaho, USA Sarah A. Lewis, Rocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service, Moscow, Idaho, USA Gary Sheridan, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia Ann-Marie Rohlfs, WaterNSW, New South Wales, Australia Quinn Ollivier, WaterNSW, New South Wales, Australia Lorena Oliveira, WaterNSW, New South Wales, Australia Stefan H. Doerr, Swansea University, Swansea, UK Extreme rainfall following the disastrous 2019/2020 Australian bushfires threatened Sydney's water supply, giving researchers a unique opportunity to refine end-user tools for reliably simulating run-off erosion events in large fire-affected areas. The study by Neris et al. demonstrates a highly successful, international, and cross-sectoral collaboration between local Australian water managers and researchers in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Europe. [Extracted from the article]

Inland waters are among the most threatened biodiversity hotspots. Ponds located in alpine areas are experiencing more rapid and dramatic water temperature increases than any other biome. Despite their prevalence, alpine ponds and their biodiversity responses to climate change have been poorly explored, reflecting their small size and difficult access. To understand the effects of climate change on alpine pond biodiversity, we performed a comprehensive literature review for papers published since 1955. Through analysis of their geographic distribution, environmental features, and biodiversity values, we identified which environmental factors related to climate change would have direct or indirect effects on alpine pond biodiversity. We then synthesized this information to produce a conceptual model of the effects of climate change on alpine pond biodiversity. Increased water temperature, reduced hydroperiod, and loss of connectivity between alpine ponds were the main drivers of biodiversity geographic distribution, leading to predictable changes in spatial patterns of biodiversity. We identified three major research gaps that, if addressed, can guide conservation and restoration strategies for alpine ponds biodiversity in an uncertain future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The I Journal of the American Water Resources Association i (JAWRA) is currently in its sixth decade of publication. Volume 53 of JAWRA, published in the year 2017, featured a series of papers focused on the application of the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model developments and applications. The impact of this paper was strong and recognized by the Boggess Award as the outstanding paper published in JAWRA in the year 2018. [Extracted from the article]

Radar sounding of Mars' south polar ice cap has revealed portions of its base with stronger radar returns than its surface. These have been used to estimate high real permittivity values consistent with liquid water. However, the thermal, chemical, and geological conditions required to sustain such water bodies are challenging to achieve in the contemporary Martian environment. Three recent papers address this conflict. Khuller and Plaut (2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093631) find similar radar signatures across the ice cap, expanding the range conditions associated with water candidates. Bierson et al. (2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093880) show that, for non‐zero conductivity, a wider range of materials could produce the observed echoes. Similarly, Smith et al., (2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093618) use modeling, laboratory tests, and remote sensing data to propose smectite deposits as their specific source. While not incompatible with bodies of liquid brines, these papers provide potential alternative sources for the bright radar observations. Plain Language Summary: Bright radar reflections from beneath the ice cap on the south pole of Mars provided tantalizing evidence for liquid water bodies beneath the ice. However, three recent papers present new challenges for this interpretation. The first shows that similar bright reflections are widespread across much of the ice cap. The environment on Mars already makes it difficult for water to remain stable and these echoes mean that it would have to do so across an even wider range of challenging temperatures and pressures. The two other papers show that other materials, like salty ice and clay, could also produce the bright reflections. Although these new papers do not rule out the possibility of very salty bodies of liquid water beneath the ice cap, they do raise the possibility of alternative sources for the bright reflections. Key Points: Bright radar reflections are widespread across the base of Mar's south polar ice capThe brightness of these reflections could result, in part, from the electrical conductivity of the base of the ice capPotential conductive materials include liquid brines, saline ice, and conductive deposits such as hydrous smectite clays [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of World Water Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Fresh air and clean water are essential constituents for the human population as well as for fauna and flora. Owing to the extreme toxicity of NACs and VOCs in physiological systems and their widespread presence in the environment, serious mitigation is required. The innovation of chemosensors for these two types of harmful organic contaminants (NACs i. e., nitroaromatics, and VOCs i. e., volatile organic compounds) have unfolded as a key research topic in recent decades, garnering a lot of attention due to their environmental, industrial and biological importance. In recent years, there has been a significant amount of research on both NACs and VOCs chemosensors. This Review article has recapitulated the latest development of fluorescent chemosensors especially small molecular frameworks from 2015 to 2022, for NACs and VOCs which has been discussed individually. In addition, the detection of NACs and VOCs on multiple platforms with a special focus on their mechanistic exploration, as well as their probable applications in natural water body specimens, vapor phase detection, and paper strip analysis have also been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The salinity of the salt lake is an important factor to evaluate whether it contains some mineral resources or not, the fault buried in the salt lake could control the abundance of the salinity. Therefore, it is of great geological importance to identify the fault buried in the salt lake. Taking the Gasikule Salt Lake in China for example, the paper established a new method to identify the fault buried in the salt lake based on the multi‐source remote sensing data including Landsat TM, SPOT‐5 and ASTER data. It includes the acquisition and selection of the multi‐source remote sensing data, data preprocessing, lake waterfront extraction, spectrum extraction of brine with different salinity, salinity index construction, salinity separation, analysis of the abnormal salinity and identification of the fault buried in salt lake, temperature inversion of brine and the fault verification. As a result, the study identified an important fault buried in the east of the Gasikule Salt Lake that controls the highest salinity abnormal. Because the level of the salinity is positively correlated to the mineral abundance, the result provides the important reference to identify the water body rich in mineral resources in the salt lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor and unreliable knowledge of the status of freshwater fisheries limits their inclusion in governance processes, thereby impeding effective management measures. This threatens the livelihoods of people, particularly in developing countries. Improved knowledge is required to draw the attention of policymakers and stimulate effective management measures to accelerate the sustainability of the freshwater fisheries. In line with this requirement, this paper provides the state of knowledge of the aquatic ecosystem and fisheries of the Lake Edward system, East Africa, focusing on lakes Edward, George and the Kazinga channel. The state of knowledge was accomplished by reviewing existing data and information on aspects of primary productivity and water quality, invertebrates, fish fauna, fish life history and ecology, and fisheries. The waterbodies have been monitored since the 1930s, albeit sporadically, providing data on all the above aspects but with substantial temporal gaps. Adequate and updated data and information exist on the water quality status of the water bodies, extant aquatic taxa (including fishes) and fish catches but with uncertainties in the latter. Data and information gaps exist on the abundance of biotic communities, fish life history, quantitative trophic ecology and fisheries management reference points. The aggregated data and information can directly support decisions for fisheries management. We recommend regular monitoring to fill the data and information gaps, more comprehensive stock assessments and the development of aquatic ecosystem models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Yet behind these obvious and immediate hopes and fears there lies a deeper meaning, known only to the mountain itself. Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf' (Aldo Leopold. (1949/1989). A Sand county almanac, p. 129). How do we think about rivers and waterways? In this paper I meditate on the notion of 'thinking like a river', to ask questions about how rivers and other waterways are conceptualised in the human imaginary, and in relation to peoples, place and ecology. The paper speculates on an ontology and phenomenology of watery places; to explore alternative ways of seeing and thinking. It poses the possibility that alternative epistemologies of nature can facilitate a deeper thinking that embraces connectivity ‐ the idea that rivers and waterways are intrinsically connected with place, peoples and landscape. I draw on three rivers and bodies of water, two in Australia and one in Aotearoa, New Zealand, to explore how these are being re‐imagined in more holistic ways, embracing Indigenous First Law, cosmologies and epistemologies, and framing them in discourses of Earth laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duck decoys are trapping devices designed to catch ducks. From the fourteenth century onwards, duck decoys emerged in riverine lowlands in northwestern Europe. Their operation is based on a rigorously maintained physical structure with a woodland that encloses a water body with protruding extensions called pipes, which end in nets and are surrounded by reed screens. Catching ducks in these places requires a complex interplay between different groups of ducks, a dog, and a human decoyman who together are enmeshed in what becomes a deeply deceptive landscape. This paper explores duck decoys in the Netherlands as relational, situated and co‐designed multispecies atmospheres. Through ethnographic descriptions of field visits, interviews and by drawing on historical accounts, we trace how inter‐ and intraspecies relations and behaviours are interpreted in terms of deception, betrayal, trust and curiosity. The varying interpretations of behaviours and the more‐than‐human knowledges at play reflect the essentially elusive character of the duck decoy. Especially when facing the environmental challenges of the Anthropocene, duck decoys and the ambiguous relations that were until recently maintained in them, encourage us to consider the historical trapping and hunting landscapes as places made by multispecies atmospheres. Even though these atmospheres and the intimate collectives of human and more‐than‐human lives have become increasingly fragile, their afterlives resonate through the changing character of the riverine landscape and its various waterfowl, as well as practices of knowing and conserving biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscapes are essential to human life: they provide a multitude of material (food, water, pollination) and nonmaterial (beauty, tranquility, recreation) values. Their importance is enshrined in international conventions and treaties, committing signatories to protecting, monitoring, and managing all landscapes. Yet, relatively little is known about how people conceptualize "landscape" and its constituents. There is emerging evidence that conceptualizations of landscape entities may influence landscape management. This in turn raises the question as to how people speaking different languages, and with differing levels of expertise, may differ in conceptualizing landscape domains as a whole. In this paper, we investigated how people conceptualize landscape‐related terms in a specific domain—waterbodies—by comparing German and English‐speaking experts and nonexperts. We identified commonly used waterbody terms in sustainability discourses in both languages, and used those terms to collect sensory, motor, and affective ratings from participants. Speakers of all groups appear to conceptualize the domain of waterbody terms in comparable ways. Nevertheless, we uncovered subtle differences across languages for nonexperts. For example, there were differences in which waterbodies were associated with calm happiness in each language. In addition, olfaction seemingly plays a role in English speakers' conceptualization of waterbodies, but not German speakers. Taken together, this suggests the ways in which people relate to landscape although shared in many respects may also be shaped in part by their specific language and culture. We collected sensory, motor, and affective norm ratings for waterbody terms in English and German. Broadly, speakers of both languages conceptualize the domains similarly; however, there were differences in the ways in which waterbodies were associated with calm happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stream ecosystems are diverse and dynamic habitats that are strongly influenced by the direct and indirect consequences of human interventions. Several initiatives have been started all over Europe to satisfy the European guidelines for the protection of local water bodies, but a standardised procedure across national borders fulfilling all relevant aspects and parameters of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) does not exist. In this context, we propose a new methodical approach based on salmonid fish populations to assess stream quality to increase the comparability of individual assessments due to standardized survey and evaluation methods for hydromorphology. Our approach is based on the Austrian and Italian methods, which account for the European standards, and it has been tested in 81 stream sections representative of different site and anthropogenic use conditions in the European Alps. The assessment procedure is composed of a set of 11 indicators, which were selected to evaluate longitudinal and lateral morphological and temporal dynamics of morphological and hydrological conditions. The indicators were combined into three indices, the morphology (IM), hydrology (IH), and hydromorphology indices (IHM), to obtain a holistic picture with as few parameters as possible. The definition of indicators and indices, their methodical implementation and practical testing in the field, were carried out by an interdisciplinary team of international experts. The resulting and tested field manual is included with this publication as Supplementary material. The applicability, strengths, and weaknesses of the approach are discussed in the present paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Browning of surface waters, also known as brownification, is a process of decreasing water transparency, particularly in boreal lakes surrounded by intensively managed forests and wetlands. In this paper, we review the ecological consequences and ecosystem‐based management (EBM) of browning through a systematic review approach and adopt an interdisciplinary approach to formulating new governance of this complex phenomenon. To understand the effects of browning on the recreational value of freshwaters, we present primary survey data on public perceptions of recreational fishing tourists on water quality in Finland. We identify a need to develop EBM beyond the EU's Water Framework Directive (WFD) to fully account for the extensive implications of browning. We also highlight the need for a better understanding of the within‐lake microbial processes to estimate the browning‐associated changes in the greenhouse gas balance of lakes. Tourist perceptions of the quality of waterbodies in Finland were largely in agreement with the general proportion of waterbodies classified in a good or excellent ecological status class, but these perceptions may be detached from biological quality assessment criteria. Consequently, we suggest that the EBM of inland waters should improve the utilization of information on not only biogeochemical processes but also users' perspectives on aquatic ecosystems beyond the EU WFD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans and water have a complex relationship that includes various dimensions such as sociocultural, political, legal and ecological. Considering the ubiquity of water, we need a more holistic perspective to help us see water not as a static entity but rather as one in constant movement, physically and conceptually; acknowledging the interplay between water and humans is essential to understanding societal narratives deeply embedded in places. In this special section, an interdisciplinary group of scholars explore inland waters, taking a water‐centric view instead of a land‐centric one. The special section delves into the emerging hydro‐social connections, diverse forms of expertise, governance models, collective and spontaneous actions, and resilience strategies within the context of inland water bodies, exploring how canals, rivers and wetlands are experienced and represented as places. The papers in this collection show that any form of placemaking should take responsible stewardship of water, embrace its dynamic nature, and present a realistic pathway towards sustainable solutions for present and future water challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrological patterns of all natural water bodies pulse in variable rhythms of high and low water. The biodiversity of these ecosystems is driven by the changing nature of the environment, allowing different life strategies to coexist, e.g., by the fast reuse of nutrients when aquatic biota flourish in the recently wetted zones and vice versa. Much of the human culture in hydroscapes has developed as an adaptation to this rhythm, e.g., by using the flood‐fertilised floodplains for agriculture or fisheries, or by seasonal migration into or out of the floodplain (transhumance). Technological advances have allowed humans to control, change, or even eliminate this natural water rhythm by building dams, dikes, and canals. Consequently, important ecosystem functions fail, often resulting in failure of human life‐support systems but also in the failure and decline of cultural activities. I argue that the loss of socio‐cultural connectivity to the rhythms of rivers and other hydrosystems occurs in four phases: (i) loss of direct relationships (e.g., uses of waterborne resources), (ii) loss of indirect relationships (cultural activities that are connected to theses uses), (iii) turning away from the river/hydrosystem (often caused by decreased water quality), and (iv) total oblivion (caused by removal or burial of the hydrosystem). Reintegrating more riverine rhythms into human life would not mean to step back in time but rather to find a combination of revised traditional ecological knowledge, learning from nature, changing values in the context of use of natural resources, and innovations. This paper draws on social‐environmental aspects of the River Culture Concept – which attempts to reintegrate respect for the pulsing nature of hydrosystems into modern, sustainable management – and on diverse case studies. Examples are presented on how River Culture Concept approaches may contribute to revitalising socio‐ecological linkages to the rhythm of the waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

River contracts (RCs) are voluntary agreements between stakeholders for managing water bodies and involve participatory, evidence‐based action plans. Increasingly, European authorities recognise that effective water policies require bottom‐up, inclusive decision‐making. Despite widely held assumptions about the benefits of including stakeholders in river basin management and encouraging participatory mechanisms of decision‐making, the growing rhetoric about the need for public engagement implies that this 'new' paradigm of water management remains filled with ambiguities. Adopting ethnographic methods and drawing on a variety of primary and secondary sources, this paper analyses three RCs in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy. These case studies reveal the potential for RCs as tools not only for water management, but also for increasing stakeholder involvement through place‐making activities conceived as potential hydrophilic encounters. In order to understand whether RCs contribute to a fluvial sense of place, we looked at the effects of top‐down versus participatory processes. We asked whether RCs were considered participatory processes designed to achieve a co‐designed outcome or simply territorial management projects that objectify the river as something to be developed. We found that ratifying an RC was not, in itself, proof of an effective process; rather the nature and quality of an RC was determined by the degree and type of participation. We contend that participatory events and sharing information are not sufficient in themselves to achieve the active involvement of all stakeholders. We argue that the best framework for enabling place‐making and enhancing a sense of place is to develop RCs within a process that includes a high degree of participation. This enables citizens to shift from simply being passive recipients of plans to becoming effective territorial actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the biggest threats faced in the present world is environmental degradation and pollution which is caused by an increase in the concentration of toxic substances which leads to the destruction of the ecosystem which gets exposed to those particles, it also leads to the loss of ecosystems because when these toxic particles seep into soil or water bodies, the life forms or the habitat which depend on it gets affected by the effluents hence leading to adverse effects, biomagnification and even death which dismantles the entire ecosystem. In this article, we will be discussing the effects on the environment caused by mining activities which are highly detrimental to the area in which it is done. Mining involves breaking down the soil layer into depths to extract various minerals and geological substances which in turn destroys the environment which gets exposed to it. As machinery is used they destroy the soil layer completely hence resulting in erosion of the area completely rendering it useless for any vegetation to grow. Apart from these by‐products and effluents which are released from the mining sites when seeps into nearby soil and water bodies can be very much detrimental to the respective ecosystem there. Moreover, the loosening of soil destroys its rigidity hence landslides can occur which is deadly. Thus to control all that, preventive measures need to be taken to improvise the mining activity in such a way that dangers of environmental degradation can be minimized as much as possible. Therefore this paper deals with the environmental impacts of mining activities along with remedial measures to control the toxic concentration from the sites (Chaney, 1991). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indo‐Burma biodiversity hotspot has one of the world's most species‐rich inland waters. However, its freshwater biodiversity faces habitat loss and species extinction due to large‐scale development of water resources, pollution, exploitation of native biota, and introduced non‐native species.These threats include the South American suckermouth armoured catfishes, Pterygoplichthys spp., that have invaded parts of this biodiversity hotspot. Pterygoplichthys spp. are among the most impactful introduced fishes globally and pose a 'very high risk' of becoming invasive once introduced.This paper aims to compile a distribution database for Pterygoplichthys spp., map their current global distribution, and estimate their potential distribution extent in the Indo‐Burma biodiversity hotspot using MaxEnt.In the Indo‐Burma region, Pterygoplichthys spp. have already been reported from China, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, with populations also present in neighbouring India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. No populations were verified for Cambodia and Laos.A maximum entropy model was developed based on the current global distribution of Pterygoplichthys spp. The species distribution model showed that the entire biodiversity hotspot, except the spine of the Arkan Mountains and the Hengduan Mountains from Three Gorges to the Hong River Valley, is suitable for Pterygoplichthys spp. An effective temperature of 15°C was identified as the lower limit of Pterygoplichthys spp. habitat suitability.Pterygoplichthys spp. were identified as a high‐risk taxon for freshwaters of almost the entire Indo‐Burma biodiversity hotspot. A coordinated management plan for Pterygoplichthys spp. is required to safeguard the freshwater biota of the Indo‐Burma freshwater ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use remotely sensed imagery to identify the location and size of animal feeding operations in the Maumee River Watershed, a key drainage area to Lake Erie's Western Basin, which has recently experienced severe harmful algal blooms. We then estimate the relationship between the intensity of animal feeding operations in the watershed and surface water body concentrations of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), the pollutant most responsible for algal growth. We find that stream reaches with relatively larger increases in upstream animal feeding exposure experience significantly higher increases in concentrations of DRP. The average marginal upstream animal feeding operation in the watershed increases downstream DRP concentrations by between 10% and 15%. In contrast, when restricting the analysis to include only permitted operations, coefficient estimates are practically zero and statistically insignificant. Our work presents evidence that the increasing intensity of animal feeding operations contributes to water quality problems. Permitting and identification of animal feeding operations is therefore important for managing runoff and correctly attributing the causes of excess nutrients in surface water bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lakes host a high level of biodiversity, especially in their littoral zone, and provide various ecological and socio‐economic services. Lake ecosystems are impacted by a combination of pressures from different human activities (industry, hydroelectricity, agriculture, recreational activities, domestic and urban uses). Anthropic pressures can lead to alterations and dysfunctions in lakes, particularly in the littoral zone.The 2000 EU Water Framework Directive led to considerable efforts to improve the ecological status of European water bodies. However, in France, measures implemented by lake managers to counteract, limit or suppress anthropogenic impacts are still poorly identified. Moreover, their effects on hydromorphology, physico‐chemistry and biotic communities are often only partially reported (the monitoring being incomplete or heterogeneous, if not missing).This paper proposes a framework to harmonize the monitoring of habitat improvement actions conducted in the littoral zone of lakes. The monitoring method is presented as well as the sampling protocols and techniques set out to survey both the restored and control zones at the European French territory scale.Long‐term monitoring of hydromorphological, biological and physicochemical features is expected to improve our understanding of recolonization mechanisms following restoration. The proposed approach will therefore guide practitioners to identify the best restoration options and ultimately contribute to the conservation of recipient populations and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods are a frequently occurring calamity in deltaic Bangladesh. This paper aims to assess the temporal expansion of waterbodies during flooding using geospatial techniques. Several water indices were applied to classify the satellite images at various temporal scales. Among them, the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) showed the highest correlation (r = 0.831; where p = 0.01) with rainfall data. Specifically, the NDWI results showed that perennial waterbodies measured 37 km2 and 60 km2 in Sunamganj District in 2017 and 2019, respectively. The area of waterbodies notably increased 52‐fold from March to April (37 km2 to 1958 km2) during the pre‐monsoon flash flood of 2017. During the July 2019 monsoon flood, waterbodies started to extend after May and flooded 2784 km2 in area. NDVI analysis showed that in 2019, floodwater submerged 361.7 km2 of vegetation cover. At the same time, the Surma River's flooding resulted in a 73.9 per cent inundation of the total area of the Sunamganj District. We hope that this study will provide better understanding of the varying nature of floods that occur in the low lying bowl shaped Haor region which will in turn assist the government with flood mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to the hydromorphological pressure on the ecological conditions of free‐flowing river courses, increasing water temperature is affecting the water bodies, particularly by changing freshwater community compositions. The low discharge of numerous European rivers in the dry and hot hydrological year 2022 proves this relevance. Therefore, ecological assessment tools such as habitat modeling should take these factors into account when assessing the quantity and quality of habitats. In this paper, the habitat modeling tool "Transient River Habitat Modeling for Macrozoobenthos" (TRiMM) is improved by incorporating a fuzzy logic approach and adding water temperature to the set of parameters determining habitat suitability for macrozoobenthos. Habitat‐relevant parameters, including hydromorphological factors (depth, velocity, mineral and organic substrate) and a water quality factor (temperature), are combined in the habitat model so that it can more broadly characterize river physical conditions and their interactions with biological indicators. Habitat modeling employed the mentioned parameters to simulate suitability for the macrozoobenthos in a small river in central Saxony, Germany. Due to its deteriorated condition, this river was selected as a representative for thousands of kilometers of small rivers across the region, which have been restored. The model simulated the status quo of river conditions from spring to summer for three macrozoobenthos species (Ancylus fluviatilis, Ephemera danica and Gammarus fossarum). The results showed that the natural flow resulted in dynamic habitat suitability both spatially and temporally, which differs for each species. Remarkably, the five‐parameter model (depth, velocity, temperature, mineral, and organic substrate) generally performed better compared to a similar model without temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union allows the designation of mixing zones (MZ) adjacent to a punctual discharge. Concentrations of one or more substances could exceed the environmental quality standards in the MZ if the rest of the water body meets the standards. However, the European Union does not explain how to define it. In this paper, the simulation of the MZ is done through two free software, Discharge Test and Visual Plumes. Discharge Test is used to perform a first analysis of the proposed scenario and to assess the discharge effects on the receiving environment. Visual Plumes is used to analyze in more detail these effects and the behavior of the polluting plume. The results obtained, for a mercury discharge from an outfall that discharges into the coastal zone of the Mediterranean Sea, show that these models could be a useful tool for the determination of MZ. A methodology is defined to delimit the MZ for an outfall. This MZ will be the circular surface, with a radius equivalent to the estimated distance, around the discharge point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many low‐lying coastlines are exposed to overwash and marine flooding during large storm events, and the role of coastal ecosystems in reducing these hazards has been increasingly investigated and reported. This paper deals with the assessment of processes involved in coastal flooding over 2 years and 10 months at Anse Maurice, a reef‐fringed pocket beach located in Guadeloupe Island, in the Caribbean region. Daily maximum marine inundation was assessed using a fixed video system, and a hydrodynamic measurement campaign was organized to monitor local wave transformation through the reef system. The results show that daily highest runups (dHRs) are not linearly correlated with storm events since storm runup intensity is highly modulated by (a) the steric‐induced annual periodicity of sea level which showed minima in April and maxima in September and (b) the tidal level which influenced shortwave propagation on the reef flat (RF). These variables determined the reef submergence, an important parameter involved in wave transformation over reefs. Consequently, different runup responses existed for similar incident wave conditions, but generally wave attenuation ranged between 50% and 80%. Low‐frequency waves were found to dominate the hydrodynamics on the RF for the most intense wave conditions. The upper beach vegetation also reduces the maximum swash excursion at the beach between 1.7% and 42.8% for the observed storms, and thus reduces the potential for back beach flooding. This study demonstrates new comprehensive elements on runup behavior and nearshore processes, at different time scales, on reef‐lined beaches. Plain Language Summary: Small Caribbean islands are highly vulnerable to the coastal flooding hazard and the role of ecosystems in mitigating this hazard is increasingly emphasized. The physical processes involved in beach inundation were assessed at a reef‐lined beach located in Guadeloupe Island in the Caribbean. Pluriannual data sets from a fixed camera and monthly hydrodynamic campaigns were used for this work which highlights the role of various processes involved in wave‐induced coastal inundation (runup) from annual to hourly time scales. Seasonal variations in the expansion of water bodies (called steric expansion) which are triggered by fluctuations in temperature and salinity strongly control the wave runup. On shorter time scales, tides affect wave propagation over the coral reef, directly influencing the residual waves at the shoreline. Thus, low‐frequency waves were found to dominate hydrodynamics on the reef flat for the most intense wave conditions. New results indicate that coastal inundation is greatly modulated by the annual periodicity of sea level, as well as, by tidal level at short time scales. Also, the study shows that the upper beach vegetation can reduce beach inundation. These results bring new elements to understanding wave‐induced coastal inundation in the context of reef‐lined beaches. Key Points: A camera‐derived time series of 2 years and 10 months is used to evaluate processes involved in daily maximum runupStorm‐induced runup is highly modulated by annual sea‐level periodicity and tidal levelUpper beach vegetation reduces the daily maximum runup during storms [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti‐androgens are a class of drugs that have been used successfully to treat prostate cancer for decades. However, most of these drugs are associated with several adverse effects, triggering widespread concern about the occupational exposure to these drugs, as well as the ecotoxicological risks to the aquatic ecosystem and the environment. This review unpacks the mechanistic pathways of anti‐androgens in water, the risk on the aquatic ecosystem associated with the presence of anti‐androgens in water, as well as human health risks in general. Anti‐androgen detection and quantification methods are also covered, with electrochemical techniques being highlighted as the most reliable approach for the detection and quantification of anti‐androgens in water. The focus of this review is on electrochemical sensors for the determination of anti‐androgens in water as they allow rapid sample analysis, with high sensitivity, good precision, and at low cost. Progress made in developing nanomaterial‐based electrochemical sensors for the detection and quantification of anti‐androgens in water is reviewed in this paper. The metal oxide‐based electrochemical sensor is discussed in greater depth in this review as a viable approach for detecting and quantifying anti‐androgens in water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we present a comprehensive holography‐based system designed for detecting microparticles through microscopic holographic projections of water samples. This system is designed for researchers who may be unfamiliar with holographic technology but are engaged in microparticle research, particularly in the field of water analysis. Additionally, our innovative system can be deployed for environmental monitoring as a component of an autonomous sailboat robot. Our system's primary application is for large‐scale classification of diverse microplastics that are prevalent in water bodies worldwide. This paper provides a step‐by‐step guide for constructing our system and outlines its entire processing pipeline, including hologram acquisition for image reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate forecast of chlorophyll‐a concentration of water bodies is important for aquatic management because it can support management decisions with future information. In this regard, this paper proposes a new chlorophyll‐a forecast method that combines empirical wavelet transform, support vector regression, and sine cosine algorithm. Chlorophyll‐a concentration data are decomposed by empirical wavelet transform, and then, support vector regression is employed to predict decomposed components, and finally, forecast value is obtained by reconstructing the predicted values for the decomposed components. Hyperparameters of support vector regression models are optimized by sine cosine algorithm. Our model is evaluated by chlorophyll‐a concentration data of Lake Kasumigaura, Japan. For the purpose of comparison, several other models are also developed. Result indicates that our method shows better forecast performance than other competitor models. This study demonstrates that data processing by empirical wavelet transform can significantly improve forecast accuracy and our method is a promising new forecast method for lake chlorophyll‐a concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters) is an invasive fish and a continuous breeder in inland waters of India. Present investigation highlights the distinct developmental stages of developing ovary and associated changes in the energy content. This investigation helps to understand the allocation of energy for development of eggs, prespawn and also oral brooding by the female. Although it is a continuous breeder, based on size of the ovary, number of eggs, their size and energy content, immature, early maturing, developing, prespawning and spawning stages are clearly noticed. Egg diameter during development of ovary varied between 0.31 mm (immature) and 2.21 mm (spawning). Energy content of ovary from immature to spawning stage ranged from 20.7515 kJ g−1 dry ovary to 31.1560 kJ g−1 dry ovary. Nearly 28.73% of energy content of ovary is expended for spawning. Similarly, yolk‐sac fry utilized nearly 25.85% of energy of the fertilized egg for its development. Energy content of ovary of mouth‐brooding female averaged 22.9528 kJ g−1 dry ovary, which is comparable to energy content of early maturing stage of ovary (24.5558 kJ g−1 dry ovary). A strong correlation between body weight and energy content of the developing ovary (P < 0.01), and between ovary weight and energy content of ovary (P < 0.01), was evident. During mouth‐brooding, the fish continues to allocate energy to its developing ovary. Energy investment by the fish is the result of simultaneous processes associated with gonadal and somatic energy. As body size growth and gonadal development are interconnected, information on energy utilization by an iteroparous mouth‐brooding fish could provide the pattern of energy allocation during ovarian developmental phase. Further details of energy utilization, as explained in this paper, could be used as one of the factors to predict the efficiency of fish production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: With the rapid development of society, a large amount of wastewater and pesticides enter the water bodies globally, posing a threat to both the environment and the health of people and other living things. In this paper, an algal strain Scenedesmus sp. was isolated from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP); its interaction effect with wastewater bacteria on the removal of IMI and conventional pollutants in municipal wastewater was evaluated. RESULTS: In this study, an algae‐bacteria system was constructed with municipal wastewater, with the aim of exploring the removal effects and mechanisms of the consortium system on Imidacloprid (IMI, 20 mg L−1 and 60 mg L−1) and conventional nutrients from municipal wastewater. The results showed that no IMI was removed under 20 μmol m−2 s−1. However, under 60 μmol m−2 s−1, more than 90% of IMI was removed in the algae‐wastewater group (AWG) with Scenedesmus sp.; this value is much higher than the 50.4% (20 mg L−1) and 36.1% (60 mg L−1) achieved by the wastewater group (WG) without Scenedesmus sp. Meanwhile, the removal efficiency of nitrogen was 82.3% (20 mg L−1) and 71.9% (60 mg L−1) in AWG, both of which are higher than the 73.4% and 59.1% in WG, respectively. Moreover, Scenedesmus sp. TXH has a strong resistance to IMI and 4 degradation products (including IMI‐urea, 4(5)‐hydroxy‐IMI, Nitrosimine, and a substance with m/z of 176) were found in AWG. CONCLUSION: Using consortium to treat municipal wastewater containing IMI is an effective and safe way. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meteotsunamis are both a well‐known and poorly understood phenomenon. In particular, the influence of and disturbance by meteotsunamis on isolated coastal wetlands is largely unknown. This paper documents a case illustrating how water levels in an incipient foredune/swale complex in northern Lake Michigan responded to a meteotsunami event. We identified potential meteotsunami influence on wetland water levels through slope‐break and wavelet analysis, verified the presence of meteotsunami waves at surrounding lake water level gauge stations with wavelet analysis, analyzed both regional and small‐scale meteorological data to establish what source of atmospheric forcing resulted in meteotsunami formation, and used a hydrodynamic model to simulate lake surface response and meteotsunami generation. On 20 July 2019, an atmospheric bore wave propagating away from a convective storm formed a meteotsunami event in Lake Michigan that struck Sand Bay, Beaver Island and generated a 36 cm increase in subsurface wetland water levels over the course of a 1‐hr period. The potential for multiple sources of meteorological forcing and secondary wave refraction highlights several challenges with predicting generation of and effects from meteotsunami events. Additionally, while irregular, the effects of these events on isolated wetland systems have the potential to alter hydrologic and sediment budgets, vegetation growth, and dune stability; yet meteotsunami influence on isolated wetlands is an understudied phenomenon. The event presented in this study make a strong case for focused research on coastal wetland response to meteotsunamis (and meteotsunami‐like events) to address this understudied impact given its implications for coastal processes and resiliency. Plain Language Summary: While scientists are learning more about meteorological tsunamis ("meteotsunamis") so we can predict what causes them and where they might strike, we know less about how meteotsunamis affect wetlands, especially wetlands that aren't directly connected to a body of water ("isolated wetlands"). This is important because wetlands often act as the first line of defense, helping to protect coastlines from wave damage. We looked at how water levels in an isolated wetland on an island in Lake Michigan changed when a meteotsunami impacted the lake and bay near the wetland. We found that weather events that happen offshore can produce meteotsunamis big enough to change wetland water levels. But we still don't fully understand how much water these events bring to the wetland (or how long it stays) which is important to how we manage these wetlands and their ability to protect our coast. Future research needs to move beyond only deadly or destructive meteotsunamis so that we can effectively predict potential causes and hazards of these events and make informed decisions about how to manage coastal wetlands. Key Points: We documented and described hydrologic response to a meteotsunami event in an isolated wetlandAtmospheric bores may lead to meteotsunamis that are remote of the convective forcingThe observed response to meteotsunami influence highlights the need for further research into this previously undocumented phenomenon [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ponds, the most numerous freshwater habitats globally, are becoming increasingly recognized as being important for rare, endemic and endangered species, owing to the high levels of biodiversity they support and their role in ecosystem services. However, they remain largely overlooked and widely excluded from policies that might protect them. Even though their size and permanence are highly important for their legal protection, these two characteristics are not precisely and universally defined in theory and in international legal documents.International legislative frameworks do not seem to provide global, comprehensive, or detailed protection of ponds as significant and widespread habitats. On the contrary, they safeguard only fragmentary small water bodies – either by protecting certain types or only those that are parts of larger protected areas. Also, pondscapes are not specifically recognized as forms in need of legal protection.In this paper, the complexity of the legal protection of ponds is presented, followed by recommendations. These should be transformed into legal norms, and given their number and complexity be presented within a single, unique convention that would specifically address the protection of ponds globally. This type of protection would be the most effective legal tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) diminish the utility of reservoirs for drinking water supply, irrigation, recreation, and ecosystem service provision. HABs decrease water quality and are a significant health concern in surface water bodies. Near real‐time monitoring of HABs in reservoirs and small water bodies is essential to understand the dynamics of turbidity and HAB formation. This study uses satellite imagery to remotely sense chlorophyll‐a concentrations (chl‐a), phycocyanin concentrations, and turbidity in two reservoirs, the Grand Lake O′ the Cherokees and Hudson Reservoir, OK, USA, to develop a tool for near real‐time monitoring of HABs. Landsat‐8 and Sentinel‐2 imagery from 2013 to 2017 and from 2015 to 2020 were used to train and test three different models that include multiple regression, support vector regression (SVR), and random forest regression (RFR). Performance was assessed by comparing the three models to estimate chl‐a, phycocyanin, and turbidity. The results showed that RFR achieved the best performance, with R2 values of 0.75, 0.82, and 0.79 for chl‐a, turbidity, and phycocyanin, while multiple regression had R2 values of 0.29, 0.51, and 0.46 and SVR had R2 values of 0.58, 0.62, and 0.61 on the testing datasets, respectively. This paper examines the potential of the developed open‐source satellite remote sensing tool for monitoring reservoirs in Oklahoma to assess spatial and temporal variations in surface water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustaining environmental flows (e‐flows) is a basic requirement for river, lake and marsh management. Rivers, lakes and marshes have close hydrological and ecological connections in a river basin, and form river–lake‐marsh systems. Any measure that is designed to address problems related to only one of these water bodies in isolation of the others may lead to unexpected, undesired and sub‐optimal consequences for one or all of the water bodies. Papers were selected for this special issue 'Environmental Flow Mechanism and Management for River‐Lake‐Marsh Systems' to illustrate recent advances in revealing new mechanisms connecting hydrological and environmental/ecological processes, developing new methods for e‐flow calculation, and establishing new measures for e‐flow management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a method for simulating liquids in large bodies of water by coupling together a water surface wave simulator with a 3D Navier‐Stokes simulator. The surface wave simulation uses the equivalent sources method (ESM) to efficiently animate large bodies of water with precisely controllable wave propagation behavior. The 3D liquid simulator animates complex non‐linear fluid behaviors like splashes and breaking waves using off‐the‐shelf simulators using FLIP or the level set method with semi‐Lagrangian advection. We combine the two approaches by using the 3D solver to animate localized non‐linear behaviors, and the 2D wave solver to animate larger regions with linear surface physics. We use the surface motion from the 3D solver as boundary conditions for 2D surface wave simulator, and we use the velocity and surface heights from the 2D surface wave simulator as boundary conditions for the 3D fluid simulation. We also introduce a novel technique for removing visual artifacts caused by numerical errors in 3D fluid solvers: we use experimental data to estimate the artificial dispersion caused by the 3D solver and we then carefully tune the wave speeds of the 2D solver to match it, effectively eliminating any differences in wave behavior across the boundary. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time such a empirically driven error compensation approach has been used to remove coupling errors from a physics simulator. Our coupled simulation approach leverages the strengths of each simulation technique, animating large environments with seamless transitions between 2D and 3D physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constitutes a novel proposal for predicting the accumulation–utilization rate for transport of the organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) as well as the kinetic coefficients of biodegradation of OCPs dissolved in water and sorbed on sediments in tropical rivers. Eight OCPs were determined in waters and sediments in the dry and rainy seasons from 2013 to 2016. The biochemical transport and transformation model was proposed in two directions, along the river (∂COCP/∂x)$({\partial {C_{{\rm{OCP}}}}/\partial x})$, and across the river (direction z$z$), (∂COCP/∂z)$({\partial {C_{{\rm{OCP}}}}/\partial z})$, providing kinetic parameters linked to Monod's equation under a steady‐state condition for particulate and soluble OCPs, being useful for designing bioremediation techniques to restore water bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance through language, song and dance provides alternative knowledges and ways of understanding, in this case, developing deeper relationships with living water. Drawing on Indigenous Noongar culture from south‐western Australia, this paper addresses the question: How can relationships between living underground, estuarine and riverine water bodies (kayepa dordok) be performed? Two new interlinked Noongar works in response to local riverscapes were developed for, and performed as part of, the 2021 Perth Festival. The first was to embody the return journey of the bullshark, from the salt water to the riverine fresh water; the second was to enact the presence of the unseen groundwater – which emerges as wetlands and estuaries strewn throughout the landscape – on its return to the sea. The method used to derive the song and dance, and the impact of the performance itself, are described. The experiment makes a case for multiple benefits associated with re‐establishing connections among culture and nature by drawing on Indigenous perspectives, through performance giving voice to a relationality between river systems and people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main sources of water resources of the Barak Valley of Northeast India for irrigation are the surface water bodies in the form of ponds, lakes, rivers, and groundwater. This paper elucidates insight into the irrigational parameters to classify the types of water, based on these indices. Total hardness shows that 90% of surface water belongs to the soft and 63% of groundwater samples belong to the soft category. C‐S plot shows 33% of surface water belongs to C1‐S1 and 66% of groundwater samples belongs to C1‐S1 and C2‐S1, indicating fresh and suitable for use. The percentage Na+ shows most samples belong to good and permissible categories. Permeability index shows 81% of surface water in Class II and 18% in Class III, indicating good and bad types, respectively. Kelly's index suggests 90% of surface water is suitable and 9% is unsuitable, while 14% of piedmont groundwater is unsuitable. Magnesium hazard reveals 18% of surface water has more than 50 Magnesium absorptio ratio, leading to unsuitable, while 28% of piedmont and 33% of flood plain groundwater samples belong to unsuitable. Residual sodium carbon suggests surface water as suitable, while 48%, 12%, and 6% of groundwater belong to suitable, marginal, and unsuitable categories, respectively. Irrigation Water Quality Index values indicate that surface water is characterized by a highly restricted class, as they are exposed to surficial contamination as compared to groundwater. Base exchange index of ions indicates Na+‐SO4−2 hydro‐facies type suggesting dissolution of salt minerals in weak acidic water. Meteoric genesis index of ions reveals the source of groundwater as deeper meteoric water. Thus, the present study indices that the surface water bodies such as ponds, lakes, and swamps are more prone to contamination, leading to unsuitability for irrigational use, as compared to shallow groundwater in the study area, and therefore, appropriate measures must be adopted to reduce the quality deterioration for maximum utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable‐dominant mixtures with hydrogeneration and variable renewable energies (VREs) have been the focus for decarbonization of power systems. Hydrogeneration with large reservoir becomes the main regulating source. The long‐term generation scheduling (LTGS) on monthly reservoir regulation for the approaching year becomes more significant because reserving adequate water storage is related to intramonth balance, considering that hydrogeneration has to supplement deficit energy of VRE generation. However, conventional LTGS method that is based on monthly averages overestimates the hydrogeneration's intramonth energy supporting capability, whereas rolling short‐term generation scheduling method cannot account the long‐term effect of reservoir regulation decisions. This paper proposes a new LTGS method accounting intramonth imbalance risk that the energy deficit of VRE generation exceeds the maximum supporting energy of hydrogeneration. Since intramonth imbalance risk is coupled with LTGS in an uncertain and implicit way, intramonth extreme scenarios are introduced based on distribution quantiles of natural inflow of reservoirs and VRE generation, and the probabilistic intramonth imbalance risk constraints can be transformed as the hydrogeneration must supplement energy deficit of VRE generation during the extreme scenarios. A case study is conducted on a Wind‐PV‐Hydro energy base of southwestern China. The proposed method is found able to improve the feasibility and reliability of LTGS compared to other LTGS methods. Moreover, the high calculation efficiency of conventional LTGS method is inherited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface water storage—including wetlands and other small waterbodies—has largely been disregarded in traditional hydrological models. In this paper, the grid resampling method is adopted to study the influence of the digital elevation model (DEM) grid resolution on depression storage (DS) considering different rainfall return periods. It is observed that the DEM grid size highly affects DS, and the higher the grid resolution is, the larger the DS value. However, when the grid resolution reaches a certain value, the maximum DS value decreases. This suggests that a critical grid resolution value exists at which the water storage capacity of depressions is maximized, namely, 20 m in this work (except for the overall area simulation under infiltration). This phenomenon is further verified in two test cases with and without the infiltration process, that is, calculations of the local area and without infiltration area, respectively. This research may facilitate the accurate computation of the DS process, which is greatly affected by the grid resolution, thereby improving the reliability of hydrological models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lake Habitat Survey for Polish Lakes (LHS_PL) is a method for the hydromorphological investigation of lakes employed for the assessment of the ecological status of surface water bodies in Poland. It was developed based on the British Lake Habitat Survey method. In 2015, after almost a decade of work on the adaptation, the LHS method was finally adjusted to Polish conditions, and since 2016, it has been implemented in the State Environmental Monitoring programme. This paper presents the assumptions and evolution of the method and the approach for determining boundary values for the high/good (H/G) and good/less than good (G/LTG) ecological status classes. The method involves the assessment of the morphological features of the lake and anthropogenic pressures at 10 observation plots as well as the analysis of hydrological alterations and anthropogenic activities within the lake basin and the entire catchment area. The data collected in the field are used to calculate the index of lake hydromorphological alteration, that is, the Lake Habitat Modification Score for Polish Lakes (LHMS_PL). The LHMS_PL values range from 0 to 144, where 0 means no modification and 144 refers to a hydromorphologically highly modified state. The boundary values for the H/G and G/LTG status classes have been determined using the quartile method based on the relationship between hydromorphological modifications of lakes and the condition of the phytoplankton and macrophyte communities therein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GNSS Reflectometry (GNSS‐R) measurements over inland water bodies, such as lakes, rivers, and wetlands exhibit strong coherent signals. The strength of the coherent reflections is highly sensitive to small‐scale surface roughness. For inland waters, this roughness is primarily due to wind‐driven surface waves. The sensitivity of the coherent reflections to surface roughness can be leveraged to estimate wave height profiles across inland waters. Coupled with a wind wave model, an approach to retrieve a wind vector is described using a forward model, which is potentially able to predict scattered power profiles for different wind speeds and directions and choosing the minimum‐squared error solution. The ability for spaceborne or airborne GNSS‐R to measure an inland water wind vector and wave heights could contribute to scientific applications focused on understanding nearshore ecosystems, monitoring climate change effects on inland waters, sediment resuspension, biomass production, fish habitat, and others. This paper presents a novel approach to potentially retrieve wind vector and wave heights over inland waters using GNSS‐R and discusses the issues with performing such retrievals using simulation and very few available raw signals recorded from CYGNSS satellites. Key Points: Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals reflected from inland waters exhibit coherent scattering properties that make them highly sensitive to water surface roughnessWind‐induced roughness will vary across a water body, with a strong dependence on wind speed, wind direction, and the water depthDiscuss potentials of a novel model‐based approach for retrieval a of wind vector and surface wave heights over lakes using CYGNSS data [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, Yuqiao Reservoir is taken as the research object. The total suspended matter (TSM) produced by the economic development in the upper reaches of the reservoir and its surrounding areas has brought great ecological harm to the safe operation of the reservoir. Satellite remote sensing technology provides a good way to obtain the temporal and spatial variation of TSM in the study area. Two field surveys were carried out in the Yuqiao Reservoir, a total of 44 sampling points collected in the two tests. The spectral data and concentration of TSM were obtained. We developed and validated a robust empirical model to estimate the concentration of TSM in the water of the Yuqiao Reservoir for the first time. The TSM distribution map of the Yuqiao Reservoir in 2013–2018 is retrieved based on Landsat 8 OLI images. This paper analyzes the spatial distribution characteristics of TSM concentration in the Yuqiao Reservoir for several years, as well as the interannual, seasonal, and monthly variation laws and development trends. The results show that the spatial distribution of TSM in Yuqiao Reservoir shows a decreasing trend from the periphery to the center; the interannual changes are mainly as follows: The annual change trend of TSM in Yuqiao Reservoir is not obvious; the seasonal changes are significant: the highest in summer (higher than 40 mg/L), the second in autumn, and the lowest in spring and winter (lower than 15 mg/L); and the monthly changes show regular fluctuations: In a year cycle, the concentration of TSM generally shows an inverted V‐shaped trend; that is, TSM increases gradually from January to August and decreases gradually from August to December. The research results of this paper can be applied to other similar types of land water bodies, which will promote the wide application of Landsat 8 OLI images in the monitoring of TSM in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs in different regions across China, and provide data support for the scientific management of the safe operation of research areas. Practitioner points: The monitoring model of TSM in Yuqiao Reservoir was built for the first time.Temporal and spatial analysis of TSM concentration in Yuqiao Reservoir for the first time.The concentration of TSM is in Yuqiao Reservoir greatly affected by wind speed and precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The Baltic Sea region has in recent years become known as a pioneer of new modes of governance, reflecting the dynamic development of the network society. At the same time, the Baltic Sea is considered one of the world's most polluted seas, especially in terms of eutrophication, the accelerated enrichment of nutrients in the water. Overall, there is a contrast between the formally successful governance system and the actual state of the Baltic Sea. This paper describes the existing Baltic Sea environmental governance system, from the regional regime to non-governmental actors, noting that highly institutionalized inter-state and transnational environmental cooperation adds a greater element of hierarchy for environmental governance in the region. Supporting democratic development is a special requirement for governance in the post-Cold War context. The paper explicates governance challenges posed by the emerging network society, on the one hand, and the problem of eutrophication, on the other, and makes suggestions on how to develop the governance system in order to meet the challenges. As a conclusion, a general lesson for the management of international water bodies is given. Institutional diversity with many different scale preoccupations is key, but so is the need for leaders to overcome the challenges of polycentric governance: that is, to reduce opacity of governing and to increase the power of stakeholders to define the problem and its solutions in the first place. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater into the water bodies is the prime source of degradation of the freshwater ecosystem. Re‐aeration of the river allows the rejuvenation of river water quality by absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere at the air‐water interface. An accurate estimation of the re‐aeration coefficient helps to determine the assimilative capacity of streams and wastewater management also. This paper aims to develop the re‐aeration equation and its validation by modelling dissolved oxygen of the Yamuna River. Predictive re‐aeration equations are used to identify their applicability to the study area and the new equation is designed using multivariate statistical regression techniques. QUAL2Kw model is used to validate the equation by modelling dissolved oxygen. Results indicate that the developed equation performs better than the predictive re‐aeration equations for the prediction of water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater ecosystems are vast areas that are constantly changing and evolving. To maintain the ecosystem as well as the structures located close to bodies of water, frequent monitoring is required. Although dangerous and time consuming, manual operations are the conventional way of monitoring such areas. Recently, Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs) have been proposed to undertake the monitoring task. As any other platform, ASVs have limitations, such as a restricted point of view and access only where the water is sufficiently deep. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can fly over any terrain and provide a "bird's‐eye‐view" of the environment. However, UAVs have limited operational time due to power constraints. Heterogeneous marsupial robotic systems use different types of robots to augment their operation envelope, taking advantage of their individual strengths. A marsupial survey system comprised an ASV and a UAV for freshwater monitoring is developed and presented in this paper. This system is able to complete long missions and reach remote locations while also being able to generate detailed maps and inspections of points of interest. The system was thoroughly tested during a 6‐month period in a number of field deployments in freshwater ecosystems at Lake Murray and at the Congaree River, SC, USA, to validate its capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidecadal inland surface water dynamics are of increasing interest due to their importance to climate, ecology, and society, yet several key challenges impede long‐term monitoring of inland surface waters globally. This research investigates two novel methods, one addressing subhydroflattened surface estimate uncertainty issues, and a second addressing temporal resolution issues, using 46 water bodies across the western United States. First, low water level estimate uncertainty was reduced using multiple digital elevation models (ALOS, SRTM, and NED) to derive the hypsometric relationship for each lake from the digital elevation model with the lowest hydroflattened water surface. This technique reduced the number of images with subhydroflattened water surfaces by at least 549 over the best individual DEM resulting in higher water surface elevation estimate accuracy. Second, this paper introduces proportional hypsometry which dynamically generates surface area/elevation relationships for every image using clear pixels only by removing contamination from both the image and DEM. Proportional hypsometry was found to be ill‐suited for subhydroflattened water surface levels but produced comparable accuracy to clear images for above hydroflattened water levels. Overall, using the lowest hydroflattened surface along with proportional hypsometry improved temporal resolution enabling analysis of nearly 10,000 additional images while maintaining similar accuracy levels as images with <1% contamination (2.35 m RMSE vs. 2.17 m RMSE). This research increases lower water elevation estimate accuracy and temporal resolution and is scalable enabling regional and global water dynamic analysis. Key Points: Lowest hydroflattened surface models reduce low‐level water surface elevation estimate uncertaintyProportional hypsometry substantially increases the temporal resolution of the analysis while maintaining similar accuracy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "procedural" approach to animating ocean waves is the dominant algorithm for animating larger bodies of water in interactive applications as well as in off‐line productions — it provides high visual quality with a low computational demand. In this paper, we widen the applicability of procedural water wave animation with an extension that guarantees the satisfaction of boundary conditions imposed by terrain while still approximating physical wave behavior. In combination with a particle system that models wave breaking, foam, and spray, this allows us to naturally model waves interacting with beaches and rocks. Our system is able to animate waves at large scales at interactive frame rates on a commodity PC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaporation of water bodies is significantly controlled by the available energy (net radiation Rn minus heat storage G). Compared to deep lakes or lakes in the high‐latitude or high‐altitude regions, the heat storage effects of shallow lakes in subtropical regions are less well studied. In this paper, we tested the heat storage effect on the latent heat fluxes estimation using the Priestley‐Taylor (PT) equation and numerical water temperature simulations in an ephemeral and shallow lake, Poyang Lake, in China. Results showed that the estimation bias was significantly correlated with heat storage changes (r = 0.97). Overlooking the impacts of the heat storage changes will induce an increase in the RMSE (root‐mean‐square error) of the evaporation estimation from 10.1 to 54.4 W m−2. Evaporation was overestimated in June and underestimated in August because the daytime Rn tended to be stored in water in June, whereas the heat storage during daytime tended to be released as nighttime evaporation in August, when the vapor gradient between the saturated surface and the air was generally larger than in other months. Water temperature simulations showed that the diurnal changes in the heat storage in the layer that were less than 2 m deep govern G of the total water column. PT estimation of a shallow lake can be improved if the temperature of the top 2 m of water is known. Also, from the modeling perspective, because G was linearly correlated with Rn (r = 0.77), a simple equation (a*Rn + b) that approximates the available energy can improve the evaporation estimate. Key Points: We study the heat storage effect on the PT estimation in an ephemeral and shallow lake, Poyang LakeThe overlook of heat storage induced the RMSE of evaporation estimation increased over three timesThe conversion of heat storage in the water into nighttime LE was the key for evaporation estimation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rwanda, a small but rapidly developing central African nation, has undertaken development of natural capital accounts to better inform its economic development through the World Bank's Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) Partnership. In this paper, we develop ecosystem service (ES) models to quantify ecosystem condition and physical supply components of ecosystem accounts in Rwanda from 1990 to 2015.We applied the InVEST carbon storage, sediment delivery ratio, nutrient delivery ratio, and annual and seasonal water yield models to map changes in potential ES supply nationwide. We also quantified flows of sediment, water and nutrients to 96 hydroelectric dam, irrigation dam and water treatment plant sites.Over a 25‐year period, we found declines in all ES, which were most strongly driven by conversion of forests to cropland. Declines were most pronounced from 1990 to 2000 and 2010 to 2015; ES were relatively stable from 2000 to 2010 (with the exception of nutrient exports to water bodies, which jumped most sharply from 2000 to 2010). From 2010 to 2015, over 42% of Rwanda's water‐use sites (representing 9% of the nation's hydroelectric generation capacity and 59% of its water treatment capacity) had upstream increases in sediment export and quick flow greater than the national average. Half of Rwanda's water treatment plants had upstream phosphorus exports greater than the national average.Our results quantify nation‐wide ES trends, their implications for key water‐dependent industries, and the importance of protected areas in safeguarding ES flows and potential supply in Rwanda. They also provide data that can be integrated with existing land, water and economic accounts for Rwanda, as well as a baseline to inform development strategies that better link economic and environmental goals. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]