In this 1 hour lecture Dr Nick Paling, the Westcountry Rivers Trust's Head of Data, Evidence & Communications illustrates how the pressures degrading water quality in a catchment can be assessed and their sources determined. Once done, this allows a carefully tailored and targeted plan of action to be formed to reduce these impacts.
3. It provide us with….
– food and materials
– energy / fuel
– drinking water
It regulates….
– climate gases
– flooding & drought
It also gives us areas for….
– culture
– recreation
– habitat for wildlife
A catchment provides many
Ecosystem Services
7. Heavily exploited ecosystem ‘Natural’ ecosystem
Provisioning services Regulating services Cultural services
Crops
Meat
Timber
Spaces forWildlife
Recreation
Pest control
Water regulation
Water purification
What services are we currently getting?
8. A participatory stakeholder-led approach…
What services do we get?
Are we getting enough?
What areas effect provision?
What can we do to provision?
Where should they be targeted?
How is it funded?
What are the outcomes?
Are the new sources of funding?
Developing a shared vision & a shared language
- Habitat creation
- Landuse change
- Farm infrastructure
- Best practice advice
- Stewardship
- Water Company
- Biodiversity offsetting
- Flood Risk
- Research findings
- Spatial data
- Monitoring
- Reports & plans
9. Ecosystem services: Water regulation & quality
The water cycle is one of the fundamental processes we all
depend on –
Water regulation is dependent on -
Direction of water movement: laterally or vertically
Rate of water movement / timing of release
Interactions with contaminants
Some land areas play a role in water
regulation and water quality
- Innate characteristics
- Condition/health
10. Ecosystem services: Water regulation & purification
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INHERENT RISK
PRACTICE
Source
Receptor
We want to understand why water quality is (or is not)
degraded in certain locations…
+++ Importance/opportunity
11. Ecosystem services: Water regulation & purification
Seasonally wet gley
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4
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6 9
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INHERENT RISK
PRACTICE
Identifying areas of high importance/risk to water regulation
- Soil type & condition/practices
Free-draining brown earth
Gley with impeded drainage
12. Natural habitat
Cultivated land
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4
3
6 9
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INHERENT RISK
PRACTICE
Permanent pasture
Ecosystem services: Water regulation & purification
Identifying areas of high importance/risk to water regulation
- Landuse & practice (intensity of use)
13. Direct connection to watercourse
Steeply sloping
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4
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6 9
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INHERENT RISK
PRACTICE
Hydrologically connected
Ecosystem services: Water regulation & purification
Identifying areas of high importance/risk to water regulation
- Location, topography & hydrological connectivity
14. Water Quality
Soil hydrology & condition
• Run-off risk
• Leaching risk
Topography (i.e. slope)
Hydrological connectivity
• Proximity to watercourse
• Flood plain
• Surface & sub-surface flow accumulation
Land cover
• Natural habitats (wetland, woodland or peatland)
• Farmed land (tillage or permanent grass)
The group identified land most likely to
have an impact on water quality:
16. Crownhill WTWs
60 Ml/day
80,000 households in
Plymouth & South Hams
3 raw water sources
- Burrator Reservoir
-Tamar at Gunnislake
-Tavy at Lopwell Dam
17. Crownhill WTWs
60 Ml/day
80,000 households in
Plymouth & South Hams
3 raw water sources
- Burrator Reservoir
-Tamar at Gunnislake
-Tavy at Lopwell Dam
18. SWW change the raw water sources for CrownhillWTWs
according to various pressures
Where is the ecosystem service derived?
19. …BUT
changing the source can
have a significant impact
on the treatment process
↑ RISK
↑ COSTS
Challenges at the water treatment works
20. Challenges at the water treatment works
Increased treatment cost = ↑ Pumping + ↑ Purification
Using river sources increases the cost of treatment
21. Challenges at the water treatment works
Suspended sediment & turbidity
We need determine the scale of the problems and where they are derived from in
the catchment…
…if we don’t know this, how can we possibly estimate the potential for enhanced
ecosystem service (clean raw water) delivery…?
42. A well established toolbox of measures to reduce rural diffuse pollution
Improving water quality – toolbox of measures
43. A well established toolbox of measures to reduce rural diffuse pollution
Improving water quality – toolbox of measures
44. Improving water quality – toolbox of measures
A well established toolbox of measures to reduce rural diffuse pollution
45. Improving water quality – toolbox of measures
A well established toolbox of measures to reduce rural diffuse pollution
46. *
Assessing the prospects for improvement
ECM+ for predicting phosphorus export
Scenario 2: 100% uptake of BFPs on Caudworthy
Scenario 1: Current situation
47. *
Scenario 2: 100% uptake of BFPs on Caudworthy
Scenario 1: Current situation
Scenario 3: 100% uptake of BFPs on entireTamar
Assessing the prospects for improvement
ECM+ for predicting phosphorus export
48. It provide us with….
– food and materials
– energy / fuel
– drinking water
It regulates….
– climate gases
– flooding & drought
It also gives us areas for….
– culture
– recreation
– habitat for wildlife
A catchment provides many
Ecosystem Services