WP-C: A Step Towards Secured Drinking Water: Development of an Early Warning System for Lakes

Abstract

Lakes are important ecosystems that provide a number of ecosystem services including provision of drinking water, flood control, fisheries and in general a high natural, cultural and aesthetic value. Provisioning services from lakes are particularly relevant in regions where lakes supply drinking water. In these water bodies, a high water quality is of utmost importance in order to produce drinking water at required quantities and at affordable prices. High nutrient loading, eutrophication, and toxicant pollution, however, are growing stressors in many places, driving severe water quality deteriorations that harm domestic water supply, quality of life and social welfare. Fast growing urban areas are particularly vulnerable to these deteriorations in surface water resources, because waste, waste water, and chemical pollutants (heavy metals, pesticides, etc.) are affecting nearby aquatic ecosystems. While in river ecosystems these pollution pressures only affect water users further downstream, i.e. not directly the pollution producer responsible for the water quality deterioration, standing water bodies like lakes or reservoirs directly and often negatively feed back to the adjacent urban communities.