Physico‐chemical Assessment of the Reference Status in German Surface Waters: A Contribution to the Establishment of the EC Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EG in Germany

For the establishment of the EC Water Framework Directive in Germany the physico‐chemical reference conditions of surface waters in Germany had to be determined. The results of the statistical analysis of 3500 data sets of 31 surface water catchment types show that water body types can be aggregated to bogs and bog riverside meadows, saliniferous type, carbonatic‐dolomitic type, sandy‐clayey type, silicatic type, and metallogenic type. The data base allows an assessment of the plausibility of the surface water quality classification and quality targets of the LAWA (Länderarbeitsgemeinschaft Wasser). The investigated reference status of the natural surface waters for the considered elements in the suspended particulate matter, except in metallogenic landscapes, corresponds to the water quality class I of the LAWA. The reference conditions of cadmium and mercury in the total water phase are significantly higher than the quality targets of the LAWA. The evaluated reference data of the other physico‐chemical parameters in the total water phase show, that assessable physico‐chemical parameters refer to a quality class of I, mainly and quality class II, locally. Mainly, the data reached the quality targets of the LAWA. In spite of the hard evaluation criteria to separate reference sites a special enrichment of nitrate and cadmium was found in many German surface water reference catchment types.     

Die EG‐Wasserrahmenrichtlinie: Ausweisung und Bewertung künstlicher und erheblich veränderter Gewässer

Designation and Assessment of Artificial and Heavily Modified Water Bodies under the EC Water Framework Directive The EC Water Framework Directive allows the Member States to designate artificial and heavily modified water bodies under specific conditions. For those water bodies the ecological assessment and the resulting programmes of measures will be based on the “maximum ecological potential” as reference conditions and not on the “high ecological status”, which has to be used for natural water bodies. Such designation is possible only, if the hydromorphology of the water bodies concerned has been substantially changed in character to maintain specified uses. The criteria for the designation are fulfilled, if restoration measures needed to meet the high ecological status would have significant adverse effects on the uses and if no other better environmental options would exist to maintain the specified uses. In late 1999 the EC‐Working Group on Heavily Modified Water Bodies (HMWB) has been established to develop criteria for the designation of artificial and heavily modified water bodies as well as for the determination of the maximum ecological potential. The working group has produced the guidance document “Identification and Designation of Artificial and Heavily Modified Water Bodies” in November 2002, which has been agreed by the European Water Directors on 21 November 2002 in Copenhagen. The guidance document is focusing on two time borders, the provisional identification of heavily modified water bodies until 2004 and the legally binding designation as artificial and heavily modified in the first river basin management plan in 2009 at the latest. The guidance document considered the main findings of 34 case studies for rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters carried out in 11 European countries. The results of the case studies as well as a summarizing synthesis were used as a fundamental basis to produce the guidance document. The practical examples given by the case studies were compiled as a toolbox which supplements the guidance for the purpose of its better application.     

Bestimmung von Umweltqualitätsnormen für potenziell gewässerrelevante Stoffe

With the Water Framework Directive (WFD) the European Commission (EC) is requested to define environmental quality standards for pollutants to protect aquatic life in surface waters. Quality standards have to be derived by a scientific risk assessment and should not be exceeded. The recommended quality standards are mainly based on long term toxicological tests with algae, crustaceans and fish. The lowest effect concentration is divided by an assessment factor between 10 and 1000, which considers the data quality and quantity. In this work funded by the German Länder Working Party on Water (Länderarbeitsgemeinschaft Wasser – LAWA) environmental quality standards for 40 considered relevant substances were derived for aquatic ecosystems. The data sheets cover the identification of the compounds, their behaviour in the environment (physical‐chemical properties, biotic and abiotic degradation, sorption, bioaccumulation), information about mode of action, uses, analytical determination and available quality criteria. Ecotoxicological effect concentrations for bacteria, algae, protozoa, aquatic plants, crustaceans, fish, amphibians, insects and molluscs are listed. For 17 of the 40 hazardous substances investigated, quality objectives above 1 μg/L were derived. For 12 substances the values were between 0.1 μg/L and 1 μg/L and for 5 substances lower than 0.1 μg/L. Incomplete ecotoxicological data sets of the remaining compounds do not allow the derivation of quality standards. Especially for drugs further ecotoxicological test results are needed.     

Qualitätsanforderungen an Oberflächengewässer: Zielvorgaben,Qualitätsziele und chemische Gewässergüteklassifizierung

Quality Requirements for Fresh Waters: Water Quality Targets, Water Quality Objectives, and Chemical Water Quality Classification In the Federal Republic of Germany, water quality requirements for the protection of inland surface waters against hazardous substances are formulated on the basis of a quality targets derivation concept developed jointly by the Federal Government and the Federal States. The quality requirements were termed “water quality targets” in order to make it clear that the values derived are orientational values rather than legally binding limit values. The international comparison of quality requirements for surface waters shows that, on the whole, the national quality targets ensure a high level of protection. According to present scientific knowledge, impairments of uses, such as supply of drinking water, or risks to aquatic communities need not to be expected if the quality targets are complied with. A comparison of water quality data with the water quality targets makes it possible, on the one hand, to identify those substances whose inputs must be further reduced; on the other hand, it also shows that, for a number of substances, there is no need at present for concern over their adversely water quality. A further differentiation of the aquatic hazard potential of pollutants allows a water quality classification system to be developed on the basis of the quality targets derivation concept. The basic elements of this water quality classification system are presented, and its application is explained by way of examples.     

Bestimmung polarer Phosphorsäureester in Trink‐ und Oberflächenwasser mittels HPLC‐MS‐MS

Determination of Organophosphorus Pesticides in Water by HPLC‐MS‐MS In the EC Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EG and in CEC 76/464/EEC there are 16 organophosphorus pesticides (insecticides and acaricides) listed which belong to so‐called priority substances. The committed quality aims of these substances frequently require maximum concentrations below 0.1 μg/L. In this paper a HPLC‐MS‐method is described. The reported limits of determination of organophosphorus pesticides are lower than the demanded limits. High analytical sensitivity is reached by solid‐phase extraction (SPE) and by injecting large volumes. For some of these substances no sample enrichment is needed and low detection limits are obtained by direct injection of the original water sample.     

Integrating long-term water and sediment pollution data, in assessing chemical status within the European Water Framework Directive

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) establishes a framework for the protection and improvement of estuarine (transitional) and coastal waters, attempting to achieve good water status by 2015; this includes, within the assessment, biological and chemical elements. The European Commission has proposed a list of priority dangerous substances (including metals such as Cd, Hg, Ni and Pb), with the corresponding list of environmental quality standards (EQS), to assess chemical status, but only for waters. In this contribution, a long-term (1995–2007) dataset of transitional and coastal water and sediment trace elements concentrations, from the Basque Country (northern Spain), has been used to investigate the response of these systems to water treatment programmes. Moreover, the approach proposed in the WFD, for assessing water chemical status (the ‘one out, all out’ approach), is compared with the integration of water and sediment data, into a unique assessment. For this exercise, background levels are used as reference conditions, identifying the boundary between high and good chemical status. EQS are used as the boundary between good and moderate chemical status. This contribution reveals that the first approach can lead to misclassification, with the second approach representing the pattern shown by the long-term data trends. Finally, the management implications, using each approach are discussed.     

Assessing reference conditions and physico-chemical status according to the European Water Framework Directive: a case-study from the Basque Country (Northern Spain)

The European Water Framework Directive requires the development of new and accurate methodologies, addressing the assessment of the physico-chemical status of transitional and coastal waters; these are considered by the Directive as the supporting elements for the final evaluation of the Ecological Quality Status.

This contribution develops new approaches in the determination of the physico-chemical status, solving some problems detected in previous contributions, i.e.: (a) fitting the classification of water bodies and typologies, by means of the stretching of the typologies, according to the natural salinity gradient of types; (b) defining reference conditions, based upon the new approach to typologies, (c) proposing accurate multivariate methodologies, in determining the physico-chemical status of the transitional and coastal waters, based upon the defined typologies and references; and (d) discussion of the results obtained by reference to methodological aspects and water quality evolution in the Basque Country, Spain (as a case-study), during the last decade.     

Eine erneute Revision des Saprobiensystems ‐ weshalb und wozu?

Another Revision of the Saprobic Index ‐ Why and What For? The 1990 revision of the German standard DIN 38410 “Determination of the Saprobic Index in Running Waters” had to be revised again in the course of a periodical updating due to the DIN regulations. Thus, practical experience can be taken into account as well as scientific development and the legal requirements. In this work, modifications of the standard are explained as far as it is not done within DIN 38410. Additionally, emerged suggestions and critiques are discussed. The necessity of quality assurance is especially emphasized. An essential part of the revision is the considerable enlargement of the list of indicators (macro‐ and microorganisms). Beside this, type‐specific ranges of the saprobic index are presented for the reference status in all types of German rivers. Consequently the saprobic system may be used as a metric for the biological assessment with the benthic fauna within the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive. Moreover, many details of the standard have been tightened up. The methods for further enlargements of these lists will also be described, especially the proceeding for the inclusion of neozoic organisms as indicators within the saprobic system. A formula concerning the statistical securing of the saprobic index is not given anymore, mainly because of the high variability of habitats and biocoenses in pristine environments. Further information for quality assurance is given as well.     

Dissolved oxygen as a physico-chemical supporting element in the Water Framework Directive

For transitional and coastal waters the Water Framework Directive identifies 5 "General chemical and physiochemical elements supporting the biological elements". The five elements are transparency, thermal conditions, oxygenation conditions, salinity and nutrient conditions. "Supporting" in the context of the directive means that the values of the physicochemical quality elements are such as to support a biological community of a certain ecological status, recognising the fact that biological communities are products of their physical and chemical environment. Physicochemical and hydromophological aspects fundamentally determine the type of water body and habitat, and hence the type specific biological community. The directive does not intended that these supporting elements should be used as surrogates for the biological elements in monitoring. The monitoring and assessment of the physical and physicochemical quality elements will support the interpretation, assessment and classification of the results arising from the monitoring of the biological quality elements. This paper considers the challenges involved in the development of oxygen standards for the directive, their relationship to the biological elements and normative conditions of the directive and to regulatory requirements.     

Assessment of the Water and Habitat Quality of a Mediterranean River (Kalamas,Epirus, Hellas), in Accordance with the EU Water Framework Directive

In the present study, the water quality of Kalamas river (NW Greece) was evaluated using physicochemical and hydromorphological parameters and benthic macroinvertebrates. Statistical analyses (Cluster and FUZZY analyses) were performed and two biotic scores (BMWP' and HS) were used in order to classify the sites according to water quality. Kalamas river appeared to have excellent tomoderate water quality at all sampling sites except one (close to the delta area) which was ”fairly or significantly polluted”. During the low flow season water quality appeared poorer than during the high flow season. The ecological parameters (hydromorphological, chemical, and biological) used for this integrated approach are the ones proposed by the New Water Directive 2000/60 EC for an efficient surveying monitoring of running waters.     

Multimetric Macroinvertebrate Index Flanders (MMIF) for biological assessment of rivers and lakes in Flanders (Belgium)

The European Water Framework Directive requires that member states assess all their surface waters based on a number of biological elements, including macroinvertebrates. Since 1989, the Flemish Environment Agency has been using the Belgian Biotic Index for assessing river water quality based on macroinvertebrates. Throughout the years, the Belgian Biotic Index has proven to be a reliable and robust method providing a good indication of general degradation of river water and habitat quality. Since the Belgian Biotic Index does not meet all the requirements of the Water Framework Directive, a new index, the Multimetric Macroinvertebrate Index Flanders (MMIF) for evaluating rivers and lakes was developed and tested. This index was developed in order to provide a general assessment of ecological deterioration caused by any kind of stressor, such as water pollution and habitat quality degradation. The MMIF is based on macroinvertebrate samples that are taken using the same sampling and identification procedure as the Belgian Biotic Index. The index calculation is a type-specific multimetric system based on five equally weighted metrics, which are taxa richness, number of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera taxa, number of other sensitive taxa, the Shannon-Wiener diversity index and the mean tolerance score. The final index value is expressed as an Ecological Quality Ratio ranging from zero for very bad ecological quality to one for very good ecological quality. The MMIF correlates positively with dissolved oxygen and negatively with Kjeldahl nitrogen, total nitrogen, ammonium, nitrite, total phosphorous, orthophosphate and biochemical and chemical oxygen demand. This new index is now being used by the Flemish Environment Agency as a standard method to report about the status of macroinvertebrates in rivers and lakes in Flanders within the context of the European Water Framework Directive.     

A revisitation of TRIX for trophic status assessment in the light of the European Water Framework Directive: application to Italian coastal waters

The trophic status classification of coastal waters at the European scale requires the availability of harmonised indicators and procedures. The composite trophic status index (TRIX) provides useful metrics for the assessment of the trophic status of coastal waters. It was originally developed for Italian coastal waters and then applied in many European seas (Adriatic, Tyrrhenian, Baltic, Black and Northern seas). The TRIX index does not fulfil the classification procedure suggested by the WFD for two reasons: (a) it is based on an absolute trophic scale without any normalization to type-specific reference conditions; (b) it makes an ex ante aggregation of biological (Chl-a) and physico-chemical (oxygen, nutrients) quality elements, instead of an ex post integration of separate evaluations of biological and subsequent chemical quality elements. A revisitation of the TRIX index in the light of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC) and new TRIX derived tools are presented in this paper. A number of Italian coastal sites were grouped into different types based on a thorough analysis of their hydro-morphological conditions, and type-specific reference sites were selected. Unscaled TRIX values (UNTRIX) for reference and impacted sites have been calculated and two alternative UNTRIX-based classification procedures are discussed. The proposed procedures, to be validated on a broader scale, provide users with simple tools that give an integrated view of nutrient enrichment and its effects on algal biomass (Chl-a) and on oxygen levels. This trophic evaluation along with phytoplankton indicator species and algal blooms contribute to the comprehensive assessment of phytoplankton, one of the biological quality elements in coastal waters.     

Dissolved oxygen levels in estuarine and coastal waters around Ireland

This paper presents the status of summer oxygen conditions in estuarine and coastal waters around Ireland between 2003 and 2007. Of the 95 water bodies surveyed, 85 had oxygen levels sufficient to support aquatic life. This corresponds to a surface area of 3125 km² or 99.4% of the total area assessed. Ten water bodies, representing a surface area of 20.2 km², were deficient in oxygen but still capable of supporting most aquatic life. No evidence of hypoxia (<2.0 mg/l O₂) or anoxia (<0.2 mg/l O₂) was found. Dissolved oxygen conditions in a number of estuaries continue to improve, probably due to improved municipal waste water treatment. The implementation of measures contained in both the Nitrates and Urban Waste Water Treatment Directives, together with those of the Water Framework Directive, should ensure areas of oxygen deficiency are eliminated from Irish waters.     

Abiotic typology of Polish lakes

According to the requirements of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC, all member states of the EU have to establish the typology of their surface waterbodies. The typology is aimed at defining the type-specific reference conditions against which the ecological state of waters can be assessed. The abiotic typology of Polish lakes of an area greater than 50 ha was established based on morphometric, hydrographic and physico-chemical data taken from the Polish national monitoring dataset. The current dataset comprises 749 out of a total of 1042 lakes with an area greater than 50 ha in Poland. Lake types were identified based on a combination of abiotic characteristics of lakes specified in Annex II of the Water Framework Directive such as ecoregions, size, altitude, mean depth, geology and an additional factor – Schindler's ratio. Altogether 13 abiotic lake types were established.     

Biodiversität und Ökologie aquatischer Oomycetes‐Arten im Auesee und in der Fulda in Kassel (Hessen)

Biodiversity and Ecology of Species of Aquatic Oomycetes in the Aue Lake and the River Fulda in Kassel (Hessen) In this study, we record diversity and ecology of aquatic Oomycetes in the Aue Lake and the river Fulda in Kassel (Hesse, Germany). We monthly collected water samples of both water bodies from July 2003 to June 2004. The baiting method was used to gain an insight into the occurrence of aquatic Oomycetes. A total of 14 species of aquatic Oomycetes belonging to the orders Saprolegniales, Leptomitales and Olpidiopsidales could be isolated of both water bodies. Numerous saprophytic isolates of Rhizophydium Schenk (Chytridiomycetes), Rhizophydium carpophilum (Zopf) Fischer, parasitic on Oomycetes, and additionally one species of Plasmodiophoromycetes, Woronina polycystis Cornu could be isolated. Many isolates of Saprolegniales attributable to the genera Achlya Nees, Dictyuchus Leitgeb, Saprolegnia Nees and Pythium Pringsheim (Pythiales), which could only be identified on generic level, could be isolated as well. The species were examined and discussed with respect to their occurrence in the stagnant water Aue Lake and/or in the running water of the river Fulda. Half of the isolated species only occurred in one of the water bodies. In this study the occurrence of Achlya proliferoides Coker could be documented for Germany for the first time. The trophic status of the Aue Lake and of the classification of water quality of the river Fulda were determined by limnological‐chemical parameters obtained by simultaneous investigations of both water bodies.     

Abiotic Stream Classification as a Basis for a Surveillance Monitoring Network in Austria in Accordance with the EU Water Framework Directive

This study presents the 26 major surface water types established in Austria in accordance with the draft of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). These types are made up of so‐called aquatic landscape units and large rivers. The 17 aquatic landscape units were defined using a database in which all Austrian running waters with a catchment area greater than 10 km^[2] were described according to the following typological features: size of catchment area, altitude of catchment area and confluences, stream order, geology, zoogeographical regions (ecoregions), and subregions. At running waters with gauges, a classification according to flow regimes was carried out. Large rivers were defined as running waters with a stream order ⩾7 and/or a catchment area > 2500 km² and/or with an average flow >50 m³/s. These major types represent, inter alia, the basis for the establishment of a surveillance monitoring network as required by the WFD.     

Extended Sediment Quality Rating for Trace Elements in Urban Waters – Case Study Klinke,Germany

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) commits European Union member states to achieving good ecological status in all water bodies by 2015. For sediments the definition of good chemical status is based on numerical sediment quality guidelines. The aqua regia fraction is thus used for the evaluation of heavy metal concentrations in sediments. The chemical constituents in sediments responsible for mobility and toxicity are not considered generally. This article presents the combining of the sequential BCR procedure, for determining the chemical species of relevant elements, with the geoaccumulation index principle a numerical classification method for sediment quality guidelines. Using the BCR method it can be demonstrated that changes in element speciation can lead to more highly mobile species of trace elements which may affect the hazardous potential of sediments despite the “good chemical status” classification for aqua regia digestions. The Klinke stream is an urban surface water body located in Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony‐Anhalt, Germany. Using this stream as an example it is shown that this additional information helps to describe the dynamics and discharge of the trace elements Al, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Pd, Cd, Sb, Ba, Pb, Bi, and U into the Elbe River from urban water bodies.     

Differences in the abiotic parameters of water in coastal lakes in the light of the EU water framework directive: An example of the Polish southern Baltic coast

Coastal lakes have a specific hydrological regime determined by the influence of sea and inland water and the local hydrographic conditions. There are several problems concerning the protection and assessment of water quality of these bodies. The most important features differentiating coastal lakes from other lakes are: high salinity, a wide range of seasonal and short-term water quality changes, and specific aquatic ecosystems adapted to these conditions. These matters have not been sufficiently taken into account in the existing classifications and typologies of lakes in Poland. The problem has not been solved by the establishment of the adequate reference conditions and new guidelines for the classification of water status (which are being prepared according to the Common Strategy for the Implementation of the Water Framework Directive) regarding inland surface waters (rivers and lakes) and marine waters (coastal and transitional). An important issue is to define criteria which would help to distinguish all those hydrographic objects and to establish water quality standards for them.     

Occurrence of priority pollutants in WWTP effluents and Mediterranean coastal waters of Spain

A comprehensive study aimed at evaluating the occurrence, significance of concentrations and spatial distribution of priority pollutants (PPs) along the Comunidad Valenciana coastal waters (Spain) was carried out in order to fulfil the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Additionally, PP concentrations were also analysed in the effluent of 28 WWTPs distributed along the studied area. In coastal waters 36 organic pollutants of the 71 analysed, including 26 PPs were detected although many of them with low frequency of occurrence. Only 13 compounds, which belong to four different classes (VOCs, organochlorinated pesticides, phthalates and tributyltin compounds (TBT)) showed a frequency of occurrence above 20% in coastal waters. In the results obtained until now, octylphenol, pentachlorobenzene, DEHP and TBT exceeded the annual average concentration (EQS-AAC), and only TBT surpassed the maximum allowable concentration (EQS-MAC). The most frequent contaminants determined in coastal waters were also present in WWTP effluents.     

Water Quality of the River Yamuna in the Delhi Stretch: Key Determinants and Management Issues

The assessment of water quality of the River Yamuna in the Delhi stretch was carried out by determining changes in the concentration levels of 19 physico‐chemical parameters. It was observed that vegetation plays an important role in acting as a biological sink for mineral nutrients, thereby restoring the water quality. It is proposed that restoration of the inundation pattern of floodplains would greatly help in re‐aeration of the overlying water and re‐absorption of pollutants through mud/water exchanges.