10.4122/1.1000001316
Silva, M. Cardoso Da
M. Cardoso Da
Silva
Fl\303\264xo, V.
V.
Fl\303\264xo
Characterization of transitional waters in the context of the WFD - Case studies of Portuguese estuaries
DTU Library, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
2005
Conference full text
Estuaries
Water Framework Directive
Environmental indicators
Nacional Laboratory Of Civil Engineering, Hydraulics
Hydraulics
Nacional Laboratory Of Civil Engineering
2005
en
10.4122/1.1000001315
application/pdf
In the European Union (EU) a first demanding Directive, associated with wastewater drainage and disposal was the 91/271/CEE concerning Urban Wastewater Treatment that imposes particular requirements when the receiving water bodies are estuaries. Further requirements were introduced by the Directive establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (2000/60/EC) the Water Framework Directive (WFD). For the implementation of the EU legislation it is of key importance to develop a comprehensive methodology for the characterization of the pressures on water bodies and of their status. The method to compute the normalised indicators from the observations is described and tested, requiring the definition of assessment criteria and of an algorithm to transform the observed values, integrated in time and in space, into dimensionless values and, later, in the normalized indicators. The test was performed in three Portuguese estuaries, Tejo, Sado and Guadiana, with different characteristic and pressures. The issues of oxygenation and eutrophication were selected. Although the available data was not collected for the application of the methodology, it was still possible to define environmental quality classes for each system.