An information platform for coastal water quality

The six regional pilot sites supporting the development, testing and implementation of the GENESIS information platform present very different problems. Water quality problems are the focus of the project's work in the Szczecin Lagoon at the border between Germany and Poland on the Baltic Coast.

The large amounts of nutrients and pollutants in the Odra river, which flows into the lagoon, keep it in a eutrophic state. It is important that water quality in the lagoon be monitored and analysed, and the data made widely accessible; this will help attract tourists to the region, in turn boosting the local economy.

E.coli bacteria

High concentrations of the E.coli bacteria close to the river mouth are still causing beach closures. Another major problem is human pathogenic viruses, which pose a major risk to beaches in the lagoon, because even just a few viruses can infect pre-disposed individuals.
These viruses commonly occur in waters affected by municipal sewage water; as things stand the city of Szczecins sewage water treatment system is still inadequate.

Infections and subsequent swimming prohibitions can seriously damage the reputation, public belief in, and future economic prospects of beaches and resorts. The GENESIS project aims to address this issue by developing a simple decision support tool to provide the relevant authorities with clear, accessible data on water quality. This tool will link flow simulations and particle tracking methods to analyse spatial and temporal hygienic water quality problems, and hence to assess risks for human health.

The work is being carried out jointly by the Leibniz-Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Warnemuende, Germany, and the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, Krakow, Poland.

http://www.eucc.net/coastalandmarine/coastalandmarine09-34.pdf

By Gerald Schernewski, Elisabeth Fischer & Roman Konieczny, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemuende EUCC-Germany

Project Overview

Objectives

• To deal with the question of pollution transfer from upstream to downstream taking into account water uses all along the stream (drinking water supply, irrigation, tourism...).

• To forecast, inform and alert the population in case of pollution risk.

• To address issues like accidental pollution, transport and risk of virus infection in the estuary and water transparency during summer

Description

The Oder river in the Baltic Sea watershed is an outstanding example of how to show the interrelations between river basin and coast, and to prove the dependency of estuary management on river basin management. The Oder Lagoon at the German and Polish border is the final part of the Oder river estuary. The Oder River - as well as smaller rivers falling directly into lagoon - currently carry large levels of pollution into the lagoon and then to the Baltic Sea. This is the result of the inlet of not well treated and sometimes even raw wastewaters from towns and villages situated along the coast. Indeed, the city Szczecin (415,000 inhabitants) releases into Oder 73 per cent of all wastewaters untreated. This deeply affects the sanitary state of the river; and presence of pathogenic bacteria and viruses in lagoon water. In addition, this is exacerbated by the tourist industry - which is the main source of income of coastal region - so high quality of water is especially important for the local authority who allows tourists to swim and partake in water sports in the area.

Current Situation

Poland

Currently in Poland institutions associated with the pilot site collect water quality information.

Germany

Presently the official website of the Project IKZM-Oder, "The Coastal Information System Oder Estuary" offers a variety of informative and basic scientific material. The system is part of the project IKZM-Oder. The system provides information about research projects, such as IKZM Oder and about other current projects with emphasis on the Oder Estuary Region.

In addition, the EUCC-Germany provides relevant information, consults and educates coastal practitioners, hosts workshops and conferences and runs demonstration projects. A further aim is to raise international awareness of German ICZM activities.

Landsat satellite image(year 2000), Source: NASA

Conclusion

The Oder River is one of the most important Rivers in the Baltic Sea Region. The presence of cities and large industries in the river basin embraces a total population of 15.4 million people. For centuries the area has faced high pressure, from massive nutrient load coming from agricultural and anthropogenic activities, in the catchment area leading to eutrophication problems in the Oder estuary.

The Oder pilot site offers a regional information system with large documentation and geo-referenced information. The system is multilingual and aims to inform about environmental and socio-economic features of the pilot site. Through the information system relevant information about project results and the actual state of the estuary can be retrieved.

The acquisition of data is supported by an extensive monitoring system managed respectively by each competent authorities of each country. Regular monitoring campaigns ensure a well documented ecological, chemical and physical state of the estuary, furthermore joined monitoring campaigns are held once a year.

Even though model based application for pollution management have been used for the Baltic Sea and in the pilot site, at the actual state there is no implemented decision support system for environment and health in the Oder estuary.