Coupling anchovy eggs and hydrodynamic model as an assessement tool for estuarine ecohydrological management

Nitrate and urban waste water directives have raised the need for a better understanding of coastal systems in European Union. The incorrect application of these directives can lead to important ecological or social penalties. In the paper this problem is addressed to Ria Formosa Coastal Lagoon. Ria Formosa hosts a Natural Park, important ports of the southern Portuguese coast and significant bivalve aquaculture activity. Four major urban waste water treatment plants discharging in the lagoon are considered in this study. Its treatment level must be selected, based on detailed information from a monitoring program and on a good knowledge of the processes determining the fate of the material discharged in the lagoon. In this paper the results of a monitoring program and simulations using a coupled hydrodynamic and water quality / ecological model, MOHID, are used to characterise the system and to understand the processes in Ria Formosa. It is shown that the water residence time in most of the lagoon is quite low, of the order of days, but it can be larger in the upper parts of the channels where land generated water is discharged. The main supply of nutrients to the lagoon comes from the open sea rather than from the urban discharges. For this reason the characteristics and behaviour of the general lagoon contrasts with the behaviour of the upper reaches of the channels where the influence of the waste water treatment plants are high. In this system the bottom mineralization was found to be an important mechanism, and the inclusion of that process in the model was essential to obtain good results.

EU water framework directive: will the nitrate load reduction from diffuse sources produce the same results in all estuaries?

The impact of urban waste-water and non-point nitrate discharges in estuarine and near-shore coastal waters are analyzed. The study is focused on the effects of applying the European directives 91/271/EEC and 91/676/EEC to these systems. 4 Portuguese estuaries and two coastal lagoons with different characteristics are studied. A modelling system is applied and calibrated in each system. Three nitrate load scenarios are examined. It is shown that the morphologic and hydrodynamic characteristics of the domain largely control the ecological processes in these systems. The primary production limitation factors are split into “biologic” and “hydrodynamic” components. The physical limitation due to hydrodynamic and residence time is the most important factor. The combined limitation of “biologic” factors (temperature, light and nutrients availability) control productivity only in the systems where physical limitation is not important.

Hydroinformatics based decision.making integrating modelling, sampling and profiling: the Ria Formosa case

A Waste Water monitoring program aiming to help decision making is presented. The program includes traditional and inboard sensor sampling, hydrodynamic and water quality modeling and a GIS based database to help the decision making of manager authorities. The focus is in the quality of waters receiving discharges from Waste Water Treatment Plants. Data was used to feed model simulations and produce hydrodynamic, effluent dispersion and ecological results. The system was then used to run different scenarios of discharge flow, concentration and location. The results enable to access the current water quality state of the lagoon and are being used as a decision making tool by the waste water managers in the evaluation phase of the treatment plant project to decide the location and the level of treatment of the discharge.

The function and future of the LOICS basins approach in promoting integrated coastal zone & watershed management with an emphasis on developing countries

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão da Água e da Costa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2010

Primary production in systems subject to natural and anthropogenic eutrophication

Tese dout., Química, Universidade do Algarve, 2005

Simulation of economic benefits achieved by water quality improvement for recreational and professional users, within the SPICOSSA SSA (SPICOSSA System Approach) 11 - Guadiana estuary ecosystem sic

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão da Água e da Costa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2010