Abstract
Urban surface waters are used in many different ways. With increasing demand for human use functions, improved insight is required into the functional quality of these waters. A method to assess this functional quality in a systematic way and for a wide variety of use functions is not available. We propose to use suitability indices (SIs) for assessing the suitability of urban water bodies for a variety of specific human uses. This study provides a new protocol for this, building on the water quality index and ecosystem services approaches in literature, by extending traditional water quality parameters with other characteristics of water bodies that determine suitability for a specific use function. By assessing suitability instead of traditional water quality, the functional quality of a water body for all kinds of uses can be determined in a consistent way. The protocol was demonstrated to be effective in developing SIs for three specific urban water use functions, namely: thermal energy extraction, transportation of goods and primary contact recreation. Application of the suitability indices in a case study in the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, resulted in spatially explicit information about suitability of surface waters for the three selected use functions. Sub-scores per parameter showed which characteristics of the urban water bodies should be changed to improve the suitability for these three functions. In this way, the SI approach for assessment of the functional quality of urban surface waters can be used to support function-oriented planning, design and maintenance of urban surface water systems.
Highlights
Urban surface water is used for a broad range of human use functions such as water extractions, energy, recreation, water quality and quantity regulation, nutrition provision, floating buildings and transportation [15,29,40]
suitability index (SI) thermal energy extraction (TEE) is targeted at heat extraction
Suitability index for thermal energy extraction (SI TEE) is designed for heat extraction during the warmest summer months
Summary
Urban surface water is used for a broad range of human use functions such as water extractions, energy, recreation, water quality and quantity regulation, nutrition provision, floating buildings and transportation [15,29,40]. A large portion of urban surface waters consists of highly modified or manmade water bodies such as canals, ponds and channelized rivers. Koschorreck et al [20] note that man made waters are often neglected in water quality research and policy. This low representation of highly modified or manmade waters is likely related to the ecological focus of common water quality evaluation concepts
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