Land use and climate change as well as legal requirements (e.g. the EU Water Framework Directive) pose challenges for the assessment and sustainable management of surface water quality at the catchment scale. Sources and pathways of nutrients and other pollutants as well as nutrient interactions need to be characterized to understand and manage the impacts in river systems. Additionally, water quality assessment needs to cover the chemical and ecological status to link the hydrological view with aquatic ecology.
Models can help to optimize monitoring schemes and provide assessments of future changes and management options. However, insufficient temporal and/or spatial resolution, a short duration of observations and the widespread use of different analytical methods limit the potential for model application. Moreover, model-based water quality calculations are affected by errors in input data, model errors, inappropriate model complexity and insufficient process knowledge or implementation. In addition, models should be capable of representing changing land use and climate conditions to meet the needs of decision makers under uncertain future conditions. Given these challenges, there remains a strong need for advances in water quality modeling.
This session aims to bring together scientists working on both experimental and modelling studies to improve the prediction and management of water quality constituents (e.g. nutrients, organic matter, algae, sediment) at the catchment scale. Contributions addressing the following topics are welcome:
- Experimental and modelling studies on the identification of sources, hot spots, pathways and interactions of nutrients and other, related pollutants at the catchment scale
- New approaches to develop effective water quality monitoring schemes
- Innovative monitoring strategies that support both process investigation and improved model performance
- Advanced modelling tools for integrating catchments and/or simulating in-stream processes
- Observational and modelling studies at the catchment scale that relate and quantify water quality changes to changes in land use and climate
- Measurements and modelling of abiotic and biotic interaction and feedback involved in the transport and fate of nutrients and other pollutants at the catchment scale
- Catchment management: pollution reduction measures, stakeholder involvement, scenario analysis for catchment management