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•Probability of river impacts occurrences were estimated from pressure indicators.•Good ecological status failure, nutrient and organic pollution were well predicted.•Probability to ...fail achieving good ecological status was >60% in 36% of river length.•Hydro-morphological alteration mapping requires specific water pressure indicators.•The maps of impact occurrence probability are useful for river basin management.
Understanding how anthropogenic pressures affect river ecological status is pivotal to designing effective management strategies. Knowledge on river aquatic habitats status in Europe has increased tremendously since the introduction of the European Union Water Framework Directive, yet heterogeneities in mandatory monitoring and reporting still limit identification of patterns at continental scale. Concurrently, several model and data-based indicators of anthropogenic pressures to freshwater that cover the continent consistently have been developed. The objective of this work was to create European maps of the probability of occurrence of river conditions, namely failure to achieve good ecological status, or to be affected by specific pervasive impacts. To this end, we applied logistic regression methods to model the river conditions as functions of continental-scale water pressure indicators. The prediction capacity of the models varied with river condition: the probability to fail achieving good ecological status, and occurrence of nutrient and organic pollution were rather well predicted; conversely, chemical (other than nutrient and organic) pollution and alteration of habitats due to hydrological or morphological changes were poorly predicted. The most important indicators explaining river conditions were the shares of agricultural and artificial land, mean annual net abstractions, share of pollution loads from point sources, and the share of upstream river length uninterrupted by barriers. The probability of failing to achieve good ecological status was estimated to be high (>60%) for 36% of the considered river network of about 1.6 M km. Occurrence of impact of nutrient pollution was estimated high (>60%) in 26% of river length and that of organic pollution 20%. The maps are built upon information reported at country level pursuant EU legal obligations, as well as indicators generated from European scale models and data: both sources are affected by epistemic uncertainty. In particular, reported information depend on data collection scoping and schemes, as well as national knowledge and interpretation of river system pressures. In turn, water pressure indicators are affected by heterogeneous biases due to incomplete or incorrect inputs and uncertainty of models adopted. Lack of effective reach- and site-scale indicators may hamper detection of locally relevant impacts, for example in explaining alteration of habitats due to morphological changes. The probability maps provide a continental snapshot of current river conditions, and offer an alternative source of information on river aquatic habitats, which may help filling in knowledge gaps. Foremost, the analysis demonstrates the need for developing more effective continental-scale indicators for hydromorphological alterations and chemical pollution.
Water, food and energy are at the core of human needs and there is a boundless complex cycle among these three basic human needs. Ecosystems are in the center of this nexus, since they contribute to ...the provision of each component, making it imperative to understand the role of ecosystems in securing food, water and energy for human well-being. In this study we aimed to map and assess water provisioning services and associated benefits to support the ecosystem–water–food–energy nexus by taking into account environmental flow requirements for riverine ecosystems using the hydrological model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). We developed a framework that includes indicators of renewable water (capacity of ecosystem to provide water) and water use (service flow) and we applied it in the Danube river basin over the period 1995–2004. Water scarcity indicators were used to map the possible water scarcity in the subbasins, and analyze the spatial match of water availability and water use. The results show that modelling is instrumental to perform the integrated analysis of the ecosystem–water–food–energy nexus; and that spatial mapping is a powerful tool to display environmental availability of water provisioning and regulatory services delivered by ecosystems, and can support the nexus analysis.
•Efficient water management requires spatial knowledge of water availability and use•We develop an approach for assessing and mapping water provisioning services•We implement the approach in the Danube river basin.•The approach can support assessments and policies related to the ecosystem–water–food–energy nexus
Estimation of domestic waste emissions to waters is needed for pollution assessment and modelling. We assessed quantity and location of domestic waste emissions to European waters for the 2010s. ...Specifically, we considered discharges of domestic waste Population Equivalent (PE, the amount of waste that equals to 60 g per day of Biochemical Oxygen Demand), and mean annual loads (t/y) of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and 5-days Biochemical Oxygen Demand. The spatial resolution and extent of the analysis corresponded to the CCM2 River and Catchment Database for Europe, for catchments of mean area of 6.4 km
. The assessment is based on available European databases that allowed pinpointing waste emissions to a high spatial and conceptual resolution. Content gaps, particularly concerning domestic waste from isolated dwellings, were filled through alternative sources of information, exploiting population density and national statistics data. The dataset is of interest for assessing waste emissions to and fate through European fresh and marine waters also beyond the three pollutants evaluated in this study.
During the last decades human activity has altered the natural cycle of nitrogen and phosphorus on a global scale, producing significant emissions to waters. In Europe, the amount of nutrients ...discharged from rivers to coastal waters as well as the effects of mitigation measures in place are known only partially, with no consistent temporal and spatial cover. In this study, we quantify the loads and concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus discharged in the European seas over the period 1985–2005, and we discuss their impact on coastal ecosystems. To support our analysis, a catchment database covering the whole of Europe was developed together with data layers of nutrients diffuse and point sources, and the statistical model green was used to estimate the annual loads of nitrogen and phosphorus discharged in all European seas. The results of this study show that during the last 20 years, Europe has discharged 4.1–4.8 Tg yr−1 of nitrogen and 0.2–0.3 Tg yr−1 of phosphorus to its coastal waters. We show that beside the North Sea and part of the Baltic Sea, annual nutrient exports have not changed significantly, in spite of the implementation of measures to reduce nutrient sources, and that the N : P ratio has increased steadily, especially in the North, Mediterranean and Atlantic seas. The response of river basins to changes in inputs was not linear, but influenced by climatic variations and nutrients previously accumulated in soils and aquifers. An analysis of the effects of European environmental policies shows that measures to reduce phosphorus were more successful that those tackling nitrogen and that policies aimed at point sources were more effective or more effectively implemented than those controlling pollution from diffuse sources. The increase of the N : P ratio could fuel eutrophication in N‐limited coastal ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and the ecosystem's resilience to future additional anthropogenic stress, such as climate change.
In this paper, we build a preliminary inventory of dissolved phase water emissions of 36 of the 45 chemical priority substances under the European Union's Water Framework Directive. For point ...sources, we consider the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) containing reported emissions from major industrial facilities. We consider all other sources as diffuse, and we estimate European average chemical emission factors from available measurements of dissolved phase concentrations, assuming simple emission patterns such as population and agricultural land. The emission inventory enables modelling concentrations, which have been compared with independent measurements. Due to the way they are estimated, they cannot withstand a point-by-point comparison. However, predicted concentrations exhibit a frequency distribution and order of magnitude compatible with observations, and match a fair proportion of independently reported exceedances of environmental quality standards for many of the substances studied.
While apparently a preliminary picture based on crude simplifications, our representation suggests that simple drivers such as population and agriculture are useful to describe chemical pollution at European scale.
From our preliminary inventory, E-PRTR industrial point emissions seem to account for a relatively small share of total emissions. Consequently, apart from specific measures such as upgrades to urban wastewater treatment plants in certain high impact areas, the management of priority substances may require a more strategic approach to emission control, addressing chemical use across sectors and the management of out-phased, legacy chemicals. At the same time, we advocate that improving emission inventories requires monitoring data reflecting the variability of emission patterns across Europe, as presently available monitoring data do not enable a catchment-specific estimation of emissions.
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•Emissions of 36 priority water pollutants in Europe estimated from monitoring data by inverse modelling;•Estimates reasonably match observations, suggesting emissions may, as a first approximation, be assumed uniform in the EU;•Large industrial point source emissions generally important at a local level, but diffuse emissions dominate elsewhere;•The paper demonstrates the feasibility of emission inventorying at continental scale•More targeted monitoring needed to better understand emission patterns, hence to plan river basin management measures.
We have quantified inputs and fate of nutrients in European fresh and marine waters from 1990 to 2018. We have used the conceptual model GREEN to assess the impact of efforts on curbing nutrient ...pollution in European regions. In the first two decades, i.e. in the 1990s and through the start of the new millennium, nutrient inputs to waters decreased significantly. Nutrient pollution in freshwaters and to the sea largely reduced in all regions, although at different pace. However, around 2008–2010 trends in nutrient inputs changed, marking an increase in the last decade, particularly from agricultural diffuse sources. In some regions, current nutrient inputs to waters are close to those estimated at the beginning of the 1990s. At the end of the study period, nutrient concentrations in freshwaters remain above thresholds congruent with good ecological status of water bodies in most downstream reaches. European policies tackling point sources are close to reach their maximum impact. In the face of this approaching ceiling, sustainable nutrient management on agricultural land becomes pivotal for effective nutrient control in river basins. The regional approach highlighted differences across Europe that may provide tailored opportunities to plan effective strategies for achieving environmental targets.
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•Nitrogen and phosphorus loads in European regions are assessed for 1990–2018.•In that period phosphorus loads to sea reduced by 22 % and nitrogen loads by 6 %.•Nutrients still exceed good ecological status thresholds in most freshwaters.•2008–2010 marked a breakpoint for the increase of nutrient inputs from agriculture.
In Southern Europe, irrigated agriculture is by far the largest consumer of freshwater resources. However, consistent information on irrigation water use in the European Union is still lacking. We ...applied the crop growth model EPIC to calculate irrigation requirements in the EU and Switzerland, combining available regional statistics on crop distribution and crop specific irrigated area with spatial data sources on soils, land use and climate. The model was applied at a 10
×
10
km grid using different irrigation strategies over a period of 8
years. The irrigation requirements reflect the spatial distribution of irrigated areas, climatic conditions and crops. Simulated net irrigation requirements range from 53
mm/yr in Denmark to 1120
mm/yr in Spain, translating into estimated volumetric net irrigation requirements of 107
mio.
m
3 and 35,919
mio.
m
3, respectively. We estimate gross irrigation demands to be 1.3–2.5 times higher than field requirements, depending on the efficiency of transport and irrigation management. A comparison with national and regional data on water abstractions for irrigation illustrates the information deficit related to currently available reported data, as not only model limitations but also different national approaches, country-specific uncertainties (illegal or unrecorded abstractions), and restrictions of actual water use come into play. In support of European environmental and agricultural policies, this work provides a large-scale overview on irrigation water requirements in Europe applying a uniform approach with a sufficiently high spatial resolution to support identification of hot spots and regional comparisons. It will also provide a framework for national irrigation water use estimations and supports further analysis of agricultural pressures on water quantity in Europe.
For about 24 000 river basins across Europe, we provide a
continuous representation of the streamflow regime in terms of empirical
flow-duration curves (FDCs), which are key signatures of the ...hydrological behaviour of a catchment and are widely used for supporting decisions on
water resource management as well as for assessing hydrologic change. In this study, FDCs are estimated by means of the geostatistical procedure
termed total negative deviation top-kriging (TNDTK), starting from the empirical FDCs made available by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (DG-JRC) for about 3000 discharge measurement stations across
Europe. Consistent with previous studies, TNDTK is shown to provide high
accuracy for the entire study area, even with different degrees of reliability, which varies significantly over the study area. In order to
provide this kind of information site by site, together with the estimated FDCs, for each catchment we provide indicators of the accuracy and
reliability of the performed large-scale geostatistical prediction. The
dataset is freely available at the PANGAEA open-access library (Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science) at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.938975
(Persiano et al., 2021b).
The energy produced from the investment in biofuel crops needs to account for the environmental impacts on soil, water, climate change and ecosystem services. A regionalized approach is needed to ...evaluate the environmental costs of large-scale biofuel production. We present a regional pan-European simulation of rapeseed (Brassica napus) cultivation. Rapeseed is the European Union's dominant biofuel crop with a share of about 80% of the feedstock. To improve the assessment of the environmental impact of this biodiesel production, we performed a pan-European simulation of rapeseed cultivation at a 10 x 10 km scale with Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC). The model runs with a daily time step and model input consists of spatialized meteorological measurements, and topographic, soil, land use, and farm management practices data and information. Default EPIC model parameters were calibrated based on literature. Modelled rapeseed yields were satisfactory compared with yields at regional level reported for 151 regions obtained for the period from 1995 to 2003 for 27 European Union member countries, along with consistent modelled and reported yield responses to precipitation, radiation and vapour pressure deficit at regional level. The model is currently set up so that plant nutrient stress is not occurring. Total fertilizer consumption at country level was compared with IFA/FAO data. This approach allows us to evaluate environmental pressures and efficiencies arising from and associated with rapeseed cultivation to further complete the environmental balance of biofuel production and consumption.
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