1. Model-based assessment of the effect of shading on river water quality WOK
- Author
-
Ghermandi, Andrea, Vandenberghe, V., Benedetti, Lorenzo, Bauwens, Willy, Van Rolleghem, P., Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, and Earth System Sciences
- Subjects
eutrophication ,eutrophicatie ,river water quality ,river water quality modelling ,waterkwaliteit ,shading ,waterkwaliteitsmodellering - Abstract
Shading by riparian vegetation affects incident solar radiation and water temperature in small- and moderate-size streams, and is thus an important component in the influence of forested riparian buffers on streams. Thewater quality effects of riparian shading are largely unknown. A simulation study was carried out to evaluate the effect of shading on six water quality variables in a moderate-size Belgian river stretch. A dynamic modelling approach making use of the RiverWater Quality Model No. 1 was chosen to represent the system. The scenarios developed indicate that shading may be an effective tool in controlling stream eutrophication (44% reduction in phytoplankton productivity in the simulated stretch) but has a limited effect on dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, nitrates, ammonium nitrogen, and phosphates. Results suggest that shading can effectively be implemented as a direct management strategy to improvewater quality conditions in small and moderate-size watercourses that are exposed to excessive algal growth during summer periods.
- Published
- 2009