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Catchment Phosphorous Losses: An Export Coefficient Modelling Approach with Scenario Analysis for Water Management

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Abstract

This paper presents the development of an export coefficient model to characterise the rates and sources of P export from land to water in four reservoir systems located in a semi-arid rural region in southern of Portugal. The model was developed to enable effective management of these important water resource systems under the EU Water Framework Directive. This is the first time such an approach has been fully adapted for the semi-arid systems typical of Mediterranean Europe. The sources of P loading delivered to each reservoir from its catchment were determined and scenario analysis was undertaken to predict the likely impact of catchment management strategies on the scale of rate of P loading delivered to each water body from its catchment. The results indicate the importance of farming and sewage treatment works/collective septic tanks discharges as the main contributors to the total diffuse and point source P loading delivered to the reservoirs, respectively. A reduction in the total P loading for all study areas would require control of farming practices and more efficient removal of P from human wastes prior to discharge to surface waters. The scenario analysis indicates a strategy based solely on reducing the agricultural P surplus may result in only a slow improvement in water quality, which would be unlikely to support the generation of good ecological status in reservoirs. The model application indicates that a reduction of P-inputs to the reservoirs should first focus on reducing P loading from sewage effluent discharges through the introduction of tertiary treatment (P-stripping) in all major residential areas. The fully calibrated export coefficient modelling approach transferred well to semi-arid regions, with the only significant limitation being the availability of suitable input data to drive the model. Further studies using this approach in semi-arid catchments are now needed to increase the knowledge of nutrient export behaviours in semi-arid regions.

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Notes

  1. Please see ‘Acknowledgements’ section for a list of experts interviewed.

  2. The accumulated organic matter in these systems are periodically pumped out and taken to a nearby STW for disposal.

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Acknowledgements

The first author was supported in part by a doctoral fellowship granted by the Foundation for Science and Technology from Portugal (grant SFRH/BD/17786/2004). Total phosphorus data for model validation was kindly provided by Ana Ilhéu and Rosário Costa on behalf of EDIA. Special thanks to Nuno Cavaco for the help with the catchment land use spatial analysis approach. The authors would like to acknowledge the important contribution of all people consulted in this study, who contributed with ideas, perspectives and specialist knowledge which have greatly enhanced the content of this work. Namely, António Fabião, Ernesto Vasconcelos, and Manuel Madeira from the Higher Institute of Agronomy; Maria da Conceição Gonçalves, José Casimiro Martins, and Tiago Brito Ramos from the Department of Soil Sciences, Estação Agronómica Nacional; Maria João Rasga and Rui Ramos from Laboratório de Évora da CCDR do Alentejo; João Pádua from INAG; Bob Foy (Agricultural and Environmental Science Division, Belfast, UK), Crawford Jordan (Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences Division, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute, Belfast, UK), Joan Armengol (Department of Ecology, University of Barcelona), João Pedro Nunes (Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Faculty of Sciences and Technology), and Luís Coelho Silva.

The authors thank the journal editor and the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and insightful comments toward improving the final article.

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  1. Department of Sociology, Instituto de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa—Lisbon University Institute, Ala Autónoma, Av. das Forças Armadas, 1649-026, Lisboa, Portugal

    Nuno-Gonçalo Matias

  2. Aquatic Environments Research Centre, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6DW, UK

    Penny J. Johnes

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Correspondence to Nuno-Gonçalo Matias.

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Matias, NG., Johnes, P.J. Catchment Phosphorous Losses: An Export Coefficient Modelling Approach with Scenario Analysis for Water Management. Water Resour Manage 26, 1041–1064 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-011-9946-3

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