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Prosjektleder: Ingrid Nesheim This is the final report from output 1 of the IWRM project 2015-2024. The goal of the project was to implement a classification system for the ecological status of rivers and lakes in Myanmar like the EU Water Framework Directive. As the project was ended in 2021 due to the military coup in Myanmar, planned activities could not be finished. This report presents a summary of the ecological surveys and ecological status assessments in selected water bodies in Myanmar achieved within the project. The report should be read in conjunction with the other comprehensive publications from the project. Although the current political situation in Myanmar put a halt to our activities, the reports and scientific papers comprised in this project, in addition to transferred knowledge about freshwater ecology to selected staff and to one PhD student from Myanmar, have led to a set of recommendations that hopefully will be an impetus for future river and lake biomonitoring in Myanmar. As knowledge about the ecology of most of the many water bodies in Myanmar is still poor a much bigger number of freshwater ecologists need to be educated to achieve the goal of classifying their status and to find solutions for their improvement. The Norwegian embassy in Yangon, Myanmar Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway

Revidert versjon av rapport 7675-2021 In the Norwegian River Monitoring Programme (in Norwegian: Elveovervåkingsprogrammet) 20 rivers along the Norwegian coastline are monitored for chemical and hydrological parameters. It is a continuation of the RID programme (Riverine inputs and direct discharges to Norwegian coastal waters) that started in 1990. This report presents the current status (2020) and long-term (1990-2020) water quality trends.

Project Manager/Main Author Cathrine Brecke Gundersen Twenty-one laboratories from 13 countries accepted the invitation to join the ICP Waters chemical intercomparison and successfully reported results. The lower number of participants this year likely resulted from the global covid-19 pandemic, leading to the lockdown of several nations during the spring of 2020. Two sets of samples were prepared and successfully distributed to the participants: one for the determination of ions and one for the metals. In general, the results were good with an overall acceptance of 81% (± 20% of the “true value”, and for pH and conductivity ± 0.2 pH units and ± 10%, respectively). The highest acceptances (> 90%) were obtained for some of the ions and metals, with a maximum of 100% for sodium. This year, the acceptance for pH was also very good (75%). The lowest acceptance rate was for total phosphorus 41% of the results being accepted. This number was originally reported as 18% due to an error with the units. A relatively low acceptance was also achieved for alkalinity which likely resulted from the large number of different titration methods used by the participating laboratories. General trends in the choice of techniques continue to shift towards plasma from atomic absorption, and to mass detection from ionic emission. This is especially promising for the determination of metals at low levels.

Project Manager Cathrine Brecke Gundersen Future levels of the carcinogenic- and potentially carcinogenic nitrosamines (NSAs) and nitramines (NAs), respectively, were modelled in the drinking water source, Lake Elvåga following the planned full-scale amine-based CO2 capture at the Oslo waste incineration plant. A high-resolution and dynamic catchment model (INCA-Contaminants) was combined with a lake model add-on. NSA and NA deposition rates (provided from COWI/Norsk Energi/CERC) were combined with site specific information (hydrology and climate), and literature values of NSA and NA bio- and photodegradation rates and physiochemical parameters. The three scenarios, “best”, “likely”, and “worst” cases were created to capture the uncertainty of key parameters. Three years of full-scale CO2 capture resulted in maximum annual average sums of NSAs and NAs in the lake water at 0.24, 3.3, and 4.4 ng L-1, for the three scenarios, respectively. For the NSAs, photodegradation was an efficient depletion pathway, nearly balancing out the input rates. Lake water levels of NAs increased with time due to the lack of an efficient depletion pathway. Seasonal variation was evident in both the NSA and NA concentrations and this should be considered for potential future monitoring programs. COWI

Project manager Hans Fredrik Veiteberg Braaten In the Norwegian River Monitoring Programme (in Norwegian: Elveovervåkingsprogrammet) 20 rivers along the Norwegian coastline are monitored for chemical and hydrological parameters. It is a continuation of river monitoring with data from 1990. This report presents the current status (2019) and long-term (1990-2019) water quality trends.

Project manager Cathrine Brecke Gundersen The project “Risk evaluation, risk reduction and risk management action plans for mercury in the Arctic – a circumpolar management approach” (ARCRISK) has been developed to address mercury pollution in the Arctic. The main objective is to develop an action plan with targeted risk reduction measures for mercury releases from key sources to land and water in the Arctic. The action plan will cover key sources from each of the four selected case study river catchment basins in Canada (1), Norway (1), and Russia (2). The ARCRISK project team consists of experts from nine highly skilled research institutes, universities and other institutions, from Canada, Norway, Russia and USA. An inception workshop was held in Oslo in March 2020 to consolidate the team and collectively develop the project framework. The present report summarizes key deliberations and decisions made as part of the inception phase, to further operationalize the project, making detailed plans and decisions for implementation of the project in 2020-2022. In addition to the components described in the inception report, the framework also includes an updated budget and a workplan for implementation of WP2-6.

Prosjektleder Cathrine Brecke Gundersen Aquatic monitoring of three lakes, including drinking water sources, located in close vicinity to the Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) was conducted to look for traces of amine-discharges from CO2 capture activities. Lake water was collected in January 2020, just after the completion of a longer test campaign at TCM, and analysed for the presence of amines, nitrosamines, and nitramines, in addition to selected water chemical parameters (pH, total organic carbon, phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll A), and nutrient content and composition). Results from the lakes were compared to results from two reference lakes and to results previously obtained during earlier monitoring work. In conclusion, no traces of amine-discharges from TCM was detected: finding no amines, nitrosamines, nor nitramines at or above their respective analytical limits for quantification, and no clear trends of increase in any of the chemical parameters anticipated to be sensitive to amine-discharges.

Project manager Hans Fredrik Veiteberg Braaten In the Norwegian River Monitoring Programme (Elveovervåkingsprogrammet) 20 rivers along the Norwegian coastline are monitored for chemical and hydrological parameters. It is a continuation of a former monitoring programme, having produced monitoring data since 1990. This report presents the current status (2018) and long-term (1990-2017) water quality trends. Norwegian Environment Agency

Prosjektleder Hans Fredrik Veiteberg Braaten Konsentrasjoner av kvikksølv og andre støtteparametere er bestemt for ulike matrikser, inkludert vann, fisk og annen biota, i Gunneklevfjorden og de to nærliggende referanseinnsjøene Flåte og Svanstulvatnet. Målinger viser at konsentrasjonene av kvikksølv i populasjoner av abbor (Perca fluviatilis) er signifikant høyere i Gunneklevfjorden enn i de to andre vannforekomstene, et mønster som gjenspeiler funn fra 2016. Forskjellene antyder at de historiske utslippene av kvikksølv til Gunneklevfjorden fortsatt kan ha betydning for kvikksølvnivåene i fisk. Resultatene fra undersøkelsen vil styrke datagrunnlaget for å kunne dokumentere effekten av planlagte tiltak mot forurenset sjøbunn i Gunneklevfjorden.

Project manager Cathrine Brecke Gundersen A total of 36 laboratories from 19 different countries accepted the invitation to join the ICP-Waters chemical intercomparison, and 33 laboratories from 16 different countries successfully reported results. Two sets of samples were prepared and successfully distributed to the participants: one for the determination of ions and one for the metals. In general, the results were good with an overall acceptance of 75% ( 20% of the “true value”, and for pH and conductivity  0.2 pH units and  10%, respectively). The highest acceptance ratios were found for the ions: sodium, chlorine, calcium, and magnesium, all being higher than 90%. The lowest acceptance ratio was found for total phosphorus with only 35% of the results being accepted. However, the concentration of total phosphorus was relatively low, and this parameter was only recently introduced into the test. For several of the parameters a relatively high number of different techniques had been used, which can lead to systematic errors in the results. This was investigated for pH and alkalinity, but no clear connections could be found between the systematic error in the results and the techniques employed. General trends in the choice of techniques continue to shift towards plasma from atomic absorption, and to mass detection from ionic emission. This is especially promising for the determination of metals at low levels. Norwegian Environment Agency United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

Project manager Hans Fredrik Veiteberg Braaten From 2017, the Norwegian River Monitoring Programme (Elveovervåkingsprogrammet) replaced the former RID programme “Riverine inputs and direct discharges to Norwegian coastal waters” which had run continuously since 1990. The present report provides the current (2017) status and long-term (1990-2017) water quality trends in the 20 rivers included in the main programme. Norwegian Environment Agency

Project manager Hans Fredrik Veiteberg Braaten Reduced atmospheric loading of mercury (Hg) can improve the environmental status of freshwaters and coastal ecosystems. Sparse data limit impact assessments of changes in atmospheric Hg on aquatic ecosystems. Here, a Hg budget is calculated for Norway by estimating fluxes of Hg in the environment. Atmospheric inputs (ca. 3.3 tonnes annually) are a factor 10 higher than riverine export to coastal areas, indicating considerable retention in soils and lakes. Environmental loading of Hg to surface waters was separated into headwater (=catchment) export of Hg and atmospheric Hg loadings, which were of similar size (0.2 to 0.3 tonnes), where atmospheric loadings were considered of higher certainty than headwater fluxes. Robust methods for estimations of headwater Hg export at the regional scale are lacking. Hg budgets for small headwater catchments are more reliable and valuable to assess the fate of atmospheric Hg, and the role of aquatic Hg retention. Continued monitoring of Hg in deposition, catchments, and rivers are needed to reduce uncertainties in environmental assessments, in addition to international collaboration. Norwegian Environment Agency

Excessive input of anthropogenic reactive nitrogen (Nr) to forested ecosystems is associated with increased rates of denitrification and possible emission of the potentially harmful greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N 2 O). Denitrification is performed by heterotrophic bacteria, and Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) is thus required for the process to proceed. Only a fraction of DOM is however assumed to be readily available for the bacteria. In a N- saturated subtropical forest in South China (Tie Shan Ping) potential denitrification rates and growth potential have been investigated in the framework of a study on N 2 O emissions. Spatial variations were found, displaying higher denitrification rates at the unsaturated hill slope (recharge zone) as compared to the more hydromorphic groundwater discharge zone. These findings were explained by the denitrifiers being C - limited, which was especially evident at the groundwater discharge zone. It was hypothesized that the reduced transport of DOM from the densely vegetated hill slope to the groundwater discharge zone was attributed to rapid mineralization along the flow pat h. This would result in only the more recalcitrant fraction of DOM remaining in solution for transportation to the groundwater discharge zone. The objective of this present study was to test this hypothesis by investigating differences in chemical characteristics and biodegradability of the DOM between the hill slope and the groundwater discharge zone. Soil-water samples collected along a topographic gradient, using suction lysimeters, were subject to both biological-, chemical-, and structural analyses. Measured biodegradability, using a batch experimental setup, suggested that the DOM from the groundwater discharge zone was far more biodegradable than the DOM from the hill slope. This was further corroborated with the structural characterization, using UV - Vis Absorbency and Fluorescence Spectroscopy, indicating small amount of more aromatic, and alow ratio of Humic to Fulvic acids in the DOM from the groundwater discharge zone as compared to the samples from the hill slope. This would imply that the attenuation of DOM along the flow path in Tie Shan Ping could not be attributed to mineralization. Instead, the loss of less biodegradable DOM is suggested to be explained by selective adsorption of the more aromatic, higher molecular weight, hydrophobic constituents of DOM to the clay-rich and organic-poor soils of the hill slope.