Abstract
Without monitoring anthropogenic pressures on the water environment, it is difficult to set realistic river restoration targets in relation to water quality. Therefore a more holistic approach is needed to systematically explore the links between socio-economic drivers and observed water quality-related impacts on river ecosystems. Using the DPSIR (Drivers-Pressures-State of the Environment-Impacts-Responses) framework, this study linked ecological river restoration with the socio-economic sector, with the focus on promoting a pressure-oriented water quality monitoring system. Based on the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) and relevant literature, it was found that most water quality-related indicators employed today are state/impacts-oriented, while very few are pressure-oriented. As a response, we call for more attention to a DPR (Drivers-Pressures-Responses) framework in developing an industrial ecology-based pressure-oriented water quality monitoring system for aiding ecological river restoration planning. This approach is characterized in general by accounting for material-related flows throughout the socio-economic sector in relation to river ecosystem degradation. Then the obtained information would help decision makers take appropriate measures to alleviate various significant human-induced wastes and emissions at their sources. We believe that such a pressure-oriented monitoring system will substantially complement traditional state/impacts-oriented environmental and ecological monitoring and help develop more proactive planning and decision-making processes for specific river restoration projects and general water quality management.
Highlights
In recent decades, river ecosystems have been greatly impaired in many regions worldwide, partly owing to water quality degradation
From an industrial ecology (IE) point of view, the goal of the pressure-oriented approach is to systematically trace stocks and flows of various wastes and emissions, especially those with the potentially highest contribution to water quality degradation. Employing this approach could contribute to reduce wastes and emissions production in the first place so as to avoid some expensive end-of-pipe remedial measures for alleviating water environmental degradation. This is crucial for analyzing risks of water quality degradation in a large scale of river restoration projects, including those aiming at restoring run-dry river reaches
This study investigated the dilemmas in water quality monitoring approaches to river restoration, focusing on the relative distribution of state/impacts-oriented and pressure-oriented efforts
Summary
River ecosystems have been greatly impaired in many regions worldwide, partly owing to water quality degradation. In river restoration, exploring the efforts of water quality monitoring to a large extent could reflect the dominant perspectives in understanding the causes of river system degradation. In this context, water quality monitoring data and indicators serve as the main basis for identifying water quality changes and pressures (stressors) in the ambient environment. From a principal perspective, employing the IE-based approach could aid in developing a pressure-oriented water quality monitoring system by tracing the sources of pollutants in river systems back to root causes in the socio-economic sector. This study used the European Environment Agency’s DPSIR (Drivers-Pressures-State of the Environment-Impacts-Responses) framework [16] as the basis for discussing the contemporary water quality monitoring efforts devoted to river restoration. The DPSIR Framework and Conceptualization of Water Quality Monitoring Approaches
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