Climate change adaptation in European river basins

This paper contains an assessment and standardized comparative analysis of the current water management regimes in four case-studies in three European river basins: the Hungarian part of the Upper Tisza, the Ukrainian part of the Upper Tisza (also called Zacarpathian Tisza), Alentejo Region (including the Alqueva Reservoir) in the Lower Guadiana in Portugal, and Rivierenland in the Netherlands. The analysis comprises several regime elements considered to be important in adaptive and integrated water management: agency, awareness raising and education, type of governance and cooperation structures, information management and—exchange, policy development and—implementation, risk management, and finances and cost recovery. This comparative analysis has an explorative character intended to identify general patterns in adaptive and integrated water management and to determine its role in coping with the impacts of climate change on floods and droughts. The results show that there is a strong interdependence of the elements within a water management regime, and as such this interdependence is a stabilizing factor in current management regimes. For example, this research provides evidence that a lack of joint/participative knowledge is an important obstacle for cooperation, or vice versa. We argue that there is a two-way relationship between information management and collaboration. Moreover, this research suggests that bottom-up governance is not a straightforward solution to water management problems in large-scale, complex, multiple-use systems, such as river basins. Instead, all the regimes being analyzed are in a process of finding a balance between bottom-up and top–down governance. Finally, this research shows that in a basin where one type of extreme is dominant—like droughts in the Alentejo (Portugal) and floods in Rivierenland (Netherlands)—the potential impacts of other extremes are somehow ignored or not perceived with the urgency they might deserve.     

Preliminary indications from atomic force microscopy of the presence of rapidly-formed nanoscale films on aquifer material surfaces

The objective of this study was to determine if there is a nanoscale surface film on aquifer-like materials exposed to deep groundwaters, as has previously been found on surfaces exposed to surface and soil waters. Such surface films will modify surface properties that are so important in determining the mobility of many groundwater pollutants. Muscovite mica was used because a) it is a good analogue for the main sorbing phases of many clastic aquifers and b) its cleavage planes are atomically flat allowing high resolution imaging. Freshly-cleaved muscovite plates were exposed to groundwater from a sandstone aquifer for 30 min, and surface properties (morphology, coverage, roughness and tip–substrate force interactions) were measured using atomic force microscopy (AFM). A patchy surface film of several nanometres in depth, incorporating larger separate particles, was found on the mica surface. This film was associated with significantly increased roughness values and AFM probe–sample interaction forces compared with pure water and inorganic (synthetic groundwater) solution controls. Although the results reported are preliminary in nature, if confirmed, such films are likely to affect sorption reactions, surface-facilitated redox interactions, non-aqueous phase liquid wetting angles, and colloid–pathogen–rock attachment, and will thus be of importance in understanding natural attenuation and migration of dissolved, non-aqueous and particulate phases in groundwaters.     

Analysis of methanogenic activity in a thermophilic-dry anaerobic reactor: use of fluorescent in situ hybridization

Methanogenic activity in a thermophilic-dry anaerobic reactor was determined by comparing the amount of methane generated for each of the organic loading rates with the size of the total and specific methanogenic population, as determined by fluorescent in situ hybridization. A high correlation was evident between the total methanogenic activity and retention time [-0.6988Ln(x)+2.667] (R(2) 0.8866). The total methanogenic activity increased from 0.04x10(-8) mLCH(4) cell(-1)day(-1) to 0.38x10(-8) mLCH(4) cell(-1)day(-1) while the retention time decreased, augmenting the organic loading rates. The specific methanogenic activities of H(2)-utilizing methanogens and acetate-utilizing methanogens increased until they stabilised at 0.64x10(-8) mLCH(4) cell(-1)day(-1) and 0.33x10(-8) mLCH(4) cell(-1)day(-1), respectively. The methanogenic activity of H(2)-utilizing methanogens was higher than acetate-utilizing methanogens, indicating that maintaining a low partial pressure of hydrogen does not inhibit the acetoclastic methanogenesis or the anaerobic process.     

Accumulation and histopathological damage in the clam Ruditapes philippinarum and the crab Carcinus maenas to assess sediment toxicity in Spanish ports

The degree of contamination and toxicity in sediment from four Spanish ports (Cádiz, Huelva, Pasajes and Bilbao) was assessed in the present study. Two marine invertebrate species, the shore crab Carcinus maenas and the clam Ruditapes philippinarum, were exposed to the different sediments under laboratory conditions for 28 days. Relationships were developed among metal contamination (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in sediments, metal accumulation in gill tissues and histopathological lesions in different biological tissues to assess sediment toxicity. A multivariate analysis approach was used to calculate sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) by linking metal concentration in sediments with histopathological lesions measured in the exposed organisms. The results showed significant contaminant accumulation and histopathological lesions due to As, Pb and Zn in sediments at the port of Huelva; As, Cr, Cu, Hg and Ni at the ports of Pasajes and Cádiz; and Cr and Hg at the port of Bilbao. The link between chemical concentration in sediments and histopathological lesions allowed the determination of SQGs for the chemicals As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Hg, Ni and Zn.     

Methylmercury production in the water column of an ultraoligotrophic lake of Northern Patagonia, Argentina

Methyl-mercury (CH3Hg+) production was studied in freshwaters from lake Moreno, an ultraoligotrophic system belonging to Northern Patagonia. Hg2+ labelled with high specific activity 197Hg was spiked to water samples in concentrations of 10 ng l(-1), and incubated in laboratory for 3d time trends under different conditions. Experimental water was sampled daily to evaluate CH3(197)Hg+ production. Lake water used in the experiments was sampled just below the upper limit of the metalimnion ( approximately 30 m depth), where maximum values of chlorophyll a have been measured previously. Sampling was performed in late autumn, when the plankton fraction <50 microm exhibited mercury concentrations up to 260 microg g(-1) dry weight. The experiments analysed lake water filtered through 50, 20, and 0.2 microm (filter-sterilized) mesh nets. ASTM grade 1 water was also incubated for control. All the experiments were run in an environmental chamber under controlled temperature and light regime. High Hg2+ conversion to CH3Hg+, up to 50%, was measured in lake water, in a process stimulated by light. CH3Hg+ production was two-fold higher after 3d of incubation with illumination compared to total darkness. Sterile lake water showed conversions up to 30%, while the planktonic components seem to enhance the CH3Hg+ production. Overall, our results provide evidence that lake Moreno waters favour CH3Hg+ production in processes stimulated by light. Although biotic components certainly contribute to enhance mercury methylation, water chemistry plays a key role in this process. We hypothesize that dissolved organic matter, particularly its quality, could be decisive.     

Molecular size distribution of compost-derived humates as a function of concentration and different counterions

Conformational changes in the structures of humic acids (HA) extracted from compost with varying degrees of maturity were monitored by high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). The molecular size distribution of HA was compared in solutions containing sodium or ammonium counterions at pH 7 and pH 4.5. These findings indicate that the humates' molecular size depended not only on the nature of the counterions but also on their concentration in the solution. The physicochemical nature of sodium counterions determined smaller molecular sizes than those of the more hydrated ammonium counterions, at low concentrations of humates. Conversely, at higher humate concentrations, the more compact conformation of sodium humates produced larger molecular sizes than those of ammonium humates due to the aggregation of more hydrophobic surfaces in the sodium humates. Composting led to the degradation of labile microbial components with accumulation of hydrophobic constituents. This caused self-association of hydrophobic compounds into humic superstructures of larger molecular size over composting time. At lower pH, changes in conformational stability by the addition of acetic acid to humate solutions were explained by the supramolecular model of humified organic matter.     

Anaerobic biodegradation of high strength 2-chlorophenol-containing synthetic wastewater in a fixed bed reactor

In this study the continuous treatment of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) containing synthetic wastewater at increasing concentrations up to 2600 mg L-1 in an anaerobic fixed bed reactor was achieved. As a source of microorganisms municipal sewage sludge was acclimatised to maximally 50 mg L-1 2-CP by 3 successive feedings within 1.5 months. Then, an anaerobic fixed bed reactor was inoculated with this sludge and was operated for 318 d, during which the 2-CP influent concentration was stepwise increased from 50 to 2600 mg L-1 within 265 d. At a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2.2 d the 2-CP loading rate was 2 g L-1 d-1 and the average 2-CP removal rate was 0.87 g L-1 d-1, accounting for 73% removal. This is the highest 2-CP removal rate ever reported. The negative effect of a 2-CP loading rate of 1.36 g L-1 d-1 on 2-CP removal was reversible within 2 wk when lower loading conditions (e.g. 0.76 g 2-CP L-1 d-1) were re-established. The median chloride ion release per unit 2-CP degraded was 0.24, which was reasonably close to the theoretically expected value of 0.28. In a batch assay, carried out with relatively clear reactor effluent, the highest removal rate of 2-CP was 175 mg L-1 d-1. At the time of reactor termination on day 318, the 2-CP removal rate by the biofilm in the reactor was 0.61 g L-1 d-1, corresponding to a HRT of 3.4 d and a 2-CP loading rate of 0.76 g L-1 d-1. At these very stable conditions removal of COD was 84% and of 2-CP 81%     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their hydroxylated metabolites in fish bile and sediments from coastal waters of Colombia

Sediments and fish bile collected from the Atlantic coastal waters of Colombia were analyzed for 16 parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and 23 hydroxylated PAHs (OH-PAHs), respectively. Sediments contained overall mean SigmaPAH concentrations of 2090, 234 and 170 ng/g, dry wt, for Cartagena Bay, Caimanera Marsh, and Totumo Marsh, respectively. The mean concentration of the summed OH-PAHs in fish bile was 1250, 180 and 64.1 ng/g bile wt for Cartagena Bay, Caimanera Marsh, and Totumo Marsh, respectively. The results suggest that Cartagena Bay is heavily polluted by PAHs, and that exposure to high concentrations of PAHs together with other factors could contribute to the decreased health of fish living in this ecosystem. This is one of the first studies to describe the analysis of 23 individual OH-PAHs in fish bile, using authentic standards.