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Human Pressure and Its Effects on Water Quality and Biota in the Llobregat River

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The Llobregat

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 21))

Abstract

The Llobregat River has severely been impacted by anthropogenic pressures since long time ago. The mid and lower Llobregat basin holds an important concentration of industries, agricultural activities, and urban areas, with high associated water demand and wastewater discharge. Salt mine activities, hydropower water diversion, and flow regime alteration by dams affect both the Llobregat headwaters and middle reaches. These impacts have historically caused the degradation of riparian biological communities and the loss of habitats along the river. The high amount of information available on water quality and biological community composition allows establishing a suitable monitoring program aimed to improve its ecological status. Some measures have been applied to mitigate the impacts, and Llobregat’s biological quality status has progressively improved. The biological communities, mainly diatoms and macroinvertebrates, have recovered even those inhabiting the river mouth, but mostly during wet periods. However, some anthropogenic pressures still remain and Llobregat’s biological status is not completely restored. The high amount of small weirs and hydropower water diversion along the Llobregat and Cardener Rivers, together with flow regime regulation by dams, riparian degradation, and point nutrient discharges (from water sewage plants) and salt debris due to mine activities, result in a poor biological quality status in the mid and lower Llobregat River. Fish fauna is the most altered community, with a high number of nonnative species present. The occurrence of some priority substances and emergent pollutants (e.g., endocrine disruptors, heavy metals, pesticides, flame retardants, drugs, and pharmaceuticals), even at low concentrations, further alter the biological quality. The changes in the biological community structure in the middle part of the river can be detected by using biomarkers, and these should additionally be considered as biological monitoring tools necessary for an integral ecological status diagnosis.

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Acknowledgments

Main information on quality status, biological data, and chemical values has been obtained from the Catalan Water Agency through its monitoring program. Additional and useful historical data and biomonitoring results over time (since 1994) have been provided by the FEM research group (Department of Ecology, University of Barcelona). Historical surveillance data since 1994 were possible due to financial support provided by the Diputació de Barcelona.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Monitoring and Aquatic Ecosystem Improvement, Catalan Water Agency, c/ Provença 204-208, 08036, Barcelona, Spain

    Antoni Munné, Carolina Solà & Lluís Tirapu

  2. Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDÆA-CSIC, c/ Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Carlos Barata

  3. Department of Ecology, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 654, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Maria Rieradevall & Narcís Prat

Authors
  1. Antoni Munné
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  2. Carolina Solà
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  3. Lluís Tirapu
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  4. Carlos Barata
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  5. Maria Rieradevall
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  6. Narcís Prat
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Correspondence to Antoni Munné .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. of the University of Girona, Catalan Institute for Water Research (IC, Scientific and Technological Park, Emili Grahit 101, Girona, 17003, Spain

    Sergi Sabater

  2. , Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, c/ Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Spain

    Antoni Ginebreda

  3. , Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, c/Jordi Girona 18-26, Barcelona, 08034, Spain

    Damià Barceló

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Munné, A., Solà, C., Tirapu, L., Barata, C., Rieradevall, M., Prat, N. (2012). Human Pressure and Its Effects on Water Quality and Biota in the Llobregat River. In: Sabater, S., Ginebreda, A., Barceló, D. (eds) The Llobregat. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 21. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2012_149

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