14 Surface Water Eutrophication in Poland: Assessment and Prevention
337
It seems that there are two basic reasons for failure: (1) the lack of an appropriate
normative-legal base and assessment approaches, (2) the lack of an effective strategy
for eutrophication control and managing.
14.4.1 Assessment Tool for Eutrophication Management
Prevention of eutrophication and its negative effects should be based on reliable information on actual water trophic state, obtained by means of low-cost, simple and easily
interpreted eutrophication indicators which also suitable for application purposes.
Such indicators form the basis for setting the permissible concentrations of nitrogen
and phosphorus in surface water considering the individual properties of different
ecosystems, for calculation of permissible loads of biogenic matter within the accumulative capacity of water body. The indicators can be also used for formulating the
predictive mathematical models, forecasting and assessing eutrophication development and the effectiveness of protective measures, for the evaluation of wastewater
impact and other sources of biogenic matter on water ecosystems and establishing
of the necessary level of nutrients reduction. They could be the basis of a properly
organized monitoring system and provide reliable information about the state of the
environment, i.e. they will be an effective tool of eutrophication management.
The methodology of eutrophication assessment legally binding currently in Poland
cannot be the basis for effective management of this process, because it does not
allow to obtain an exact result of actual trophic state assessment and not useful for
application purposes.
The analysis of the existing methodological problems in the assessment of
eutrophication process presented in Sect. 14.2 allows to conclude, that presently the
urgent task is to develop the universal methodological approach to eutrophication
assessment based on such indicators, that would meet the objectives and tasks of water
protection and management in accordance with sustainable development principles.
The indicators of eutrophication should match the following modern requirements
[51–53]:
– reflect changes in water ecosystems caused by anthropogenic factors;
– reflect the basic functions of aquatic ecosystems;
– based on a limited number of available data, and the cost of their assessment
should be moderate;
– be suitable for forecasting of ecosystem state changes;
– benchmarks should be developed for indicators, that allow for the interpretation
of possible changes or threats by different users of these indicators;
– they should be aggregated, integrating information in time and space;
– they should be well-founded theoretically.
Among the methods of eutrophication assessing, the aggregated indicators
presented in Table 14.6 are the most suitable to achieve the above mentioned goals. A
good example of such indicator may be the Index of Trophic State (ITS) elaborated
337
It seems that there are two basic reasons for failure: (1) the lack of an appropriate
normative-legal base and assessment approaches, (2) the lack of an effective strategy
for eutrophication control and managing.
14.4.1 Assessment Tool for Eutrophication Management
Prevention of eutrophication and its negative effects should be based on reliable information on actual water trophic state, obtained by means of low-cost, simple and easily
interpreted eutrophication indicators which also suitable for application purposes.
Such indicators form the basis for setting the permissible concentrations of nitrogen
and phosphorus in surface water considering the individual properties of different
ecosystems, for calculation of permissible loads of biogenic matter within the accumulative capacity of water body. The indicators can be also used for formulating the
predictive mathematical models, forecasting and assessing eutrophication development and the effectiveness of protective measures, for the evaluation of wastewater
impact and other sources of biogenic matter on water ecosystems and establishing
of the necessary level of nutrients reduction. They could be the basis of a properly
organized monitoring system and provide reliable information about the state of the
environment, i.e. they will be an effective tool of eutrophication management.
The methodology of eutrophication assessment legally binding currently in Poland
cannot be the basis for effective management of this process, because it does not
allow to obtain an exact result of actual trophic state assessment and not useful for
application purposes.
The analysis of the existing methodological problems in the assessment of
eutrophication process presented in Sect. 14.2 allows to conclude, that presently the
urgent task is to develop the universal methodological approach to eutrophication
assessment based on such indicators, that would meet the objectives and tasks of water
protection and management in accordance with sustainable development principles.
The indicators of eutrophication should match the following modern requirements
[51–53]:
– reflect changes in water ecosystems caused by anthropogenic factors;
– reflect the basic functions of aquatic ecosystems;
– based on a limited number of available data, and the cost of their assessment
should be moderate;
– be suitable for forecasting of ecosystem state changes;
– benchmarks should be developed for indicators, that allow for the interpretation
of possible changes or threats by different users of these indicators;
– they should be aggregated, integrating information in time and space;
– they should be well-founded theoretically.
Among the methods of eutrophication assessing, the aggregated indicators
presented in Table 14.6 are the most suitable to achieve the above mentioned goals. A
good example of such indicator may be the Index of Trophic State (ITS) elaborated