1.
Water circulation in nature. Hydrological cycle. Water balance. Hydrological
systems. Water resources.
Water is essential to life and is the defining characteristic of Earth, the blue planet. In
recent years, in addition to issues related to the assessment of the amount of water resources
and their variability, water pollution and eutrophication have become increasingly important.
In this discipline, the main aspect of water resources that we want to present is their
geographical context related to the circulation of water and matter in river basins, which are the
main unit in hydrological research.
People have been involved in hydrological processes since ancient times, although
initially the extent of this intervention was negligible, as was the effect of it. Significant
transformations of water processes in river basins. The exploitation of water resources at this
time shall consider current needs, without considering the further future development of the
water-based treatment. Moreover, a common feature of most civilizations was the overuse of
forest resources since the tree was used as both building materials and fuel. Many ancient
hydrotechnical projects significantly affect water volumes - but the strong human impact on
water quality manifests itself much later - through the Anthropocene (Fig. 3). Water supplies
are allocated and diverted to a range of agricultural, municipal, industrial, hydroelectrical, and
ecological needs. Some of these water uses are consumptive, removing water from the system
(e.g., crop irrigation). Other types of water use return the water to a river, lake, or to the ground,
but the water often requires treatment to restore it to a natural state; sometimes this is not
possible (e.g., industrial tailings ponds) (Marshall, 2013).
Although Paul Kruzen (born in 1933), a Nobel Prize winner (1995), considers rapid
urbanization of the world, the rapid depletion of fossil fuels accumulated over millions of years,
as well as environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. As the main manifestation
of the Anthropocene, exhaustion and contamination of water is accepted, etc. Over time, it
turned out that even the abundance of water does not allow for its use, since if it is of poor
quality, it has no consumer value or is very limited. The need to make an economical and
rational use of water resources has emerged. However, water management as a scientific
discipline appeared relatively late in the 20th century when in the temperate climate zone, with
the rapid progress of industrialization and population growth in the late nineteenth century,
water shortages began to feel. This concerned industrial basins in Western Europe and the USA.
The most concise is the definition contained in the hydrological dictionary published under the
1
patronage of UNESCO: "Water management - planned development, management and use of
water resources". As a scientific discipline, it was included in the group of earth sciences.
Concept of water resources
In most water management studies, the meaning of the term "water resources" is very broad.
For example, Lvоvich (1979) understood water resources as water available for use, and
therefore almost all the waters of the globe (rivers and, lakes, subterranean waters, soil waters,
ice in glaciers, water vapor in the atmosphere) except for the associated water, which is part of
minerals in the atmosphere. In his textbook the world's water resources (1979), he explains
the water cycle and the size and dynamics of the individual components of the water balance.
model in the form of a water cycle. However, Lvovich considers the so-called permanent river
flow, which accounts for 36% of the total river flow of the globe, as a major component of
water resources.
A relatively short definition is contained in the International Hydrological Dictionary (1991),
which defines water resources as "waters available or that can be available for use in a region,
of specified quantity and quality, over a period for specific needs. The latest definitions of water
resources include water in all aggregate states (liquid, solid, gaseous) involved in the water
cycle, which can be used to maintain a balanced standard of human life and maintain biological
life. (Dictionary ..., 2000). The focus on biological life is the result of the evolution of views
on water resources as part of the ecological strand in water management (The EU Water ...,
2001).
Hydrological system of river basins.
The main unit in hydrological research is the catchment area, i.e., the territory from which
all the waters flow to a river, lake, marsh, wetland, or other host. Therefore, the catchment area
is a spatial system that includes such elements as: river network, lakes, groundwater, vegetation,
soil, relief, geological substrate, and anthropogenic objects (e.g., buildings, roads). defined in
this way, the natural nature of the boundaries - the result of the slope of the terrain - allows and
facilitates the study of the flow of matter and energy through abiotic and biotic centers.
Interconnected processes take place within the catchment area. This allows the catchment to be
treated as a dynamic physical system in which the hydrological cycle takes place. The entrance
to the system is rainfall, which determines the amount of water resources in the catchment area.
Rainfall before reaching the earth's surface may be intercepted.
interception and periodic
retention by plants, buildings, and other objects on the ground. this process
is carried out in
2
the aeration zone. If the infiltrating water reaches the saturation zone, the level of below ground
water is increased. With a shallow bed of water-tight layers, infiltrating water can move in the
aeration zone to the riverbed. When the intensity of precipitation exceeds the intensity of
infiltration, then rainwater flows on the surface of the ground and enters the bed in the form of
surface runoff. The sum of
surface and underground run-off forms the river run-off, which is
the way out of the system.
from the root system of plants. The total amount of these losses
is known as evapotranspiration (Fig.1). It may occur, depending on the individual
characteristics of the catchment area, some processes do not occur. Moreover, the picture and
dynamics of the water cycle change in different seasons of the year; for example, in winter the
ground is frozen, covered with snow cover and surface current is almost missing. The amount
of water involved in the hydrological cycle depends not only on natural processes, but also on
human activity, which occurs in direct intervention using surface water and groundwater and
their discharge, but indirectly through land use changes the amount of surface runs-off and
evapotranspiration. Intervention in the different phases of the water cycle causes changes
throughout the cycle.
Fig. Schematic representation of the hydrological cycle
3
Bibliography
Marshall, J. 2013 Hydrology,Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental
Sciences,Elsevier, 2013,ISBN 9780124095489,
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124095489053562)
2.
Basic concepts, objectives, and tasks of water management. Water
administration and management
Water management tasks
• Water quality protection
• Providing water resources for the needs of the population and the economy
• Flood and drought protection
• Maintenance of rivers and hydrotechnical facilities
• Energy use of water resources
• Navigational use of rivers
• Water recreation
• The conservation and development of ecosystems
Goal
• Improving surface water and groundwater cleanliness
• Ensuring the population and economy with the necessary amounts of water of appropriate
quality and with the necessary security
• Reduction of damage and losses caused by water
• Limitation of bottom and coastal erosion of riverbeds and safe operation of hydrotechnical
facilities
• Creating conditions for energy and navigational use of water resources through river
development and regulation
• Creating conditions for rest and practicing water sports
Criteria for assessing the effectiveness of activities
• Surface water and groundwater quality
• Degree of meeting the needs of water users
• Amount of flood risk, amount of flood losses
• Length of regulated river sections, technical condition of hydrotechnical facilities
• Share of hydropower in the national balance sheet
4
• Condition of coastal parts of reservoirs and lakes, as well as on riverbanks
European Water Charter – adopted by the Council of Europe on 6 May 1968
Without water, there is no life, water is an invaluable and indispensable good for man.
Water resources are limited. They should therefore be maintained, controlled and, if possible,
increased.
Any contamination of water is dangerous for man and other water-dependent living organisms.
Water quality must always meet its intended purpose and must meet local public health
requirements.
Any water used which returns to its natural environment must not have a negative effect on its
further public or private use.
Vegetation, especially forest vegetation, is essential for maintaining water resources.
Water resources must be inventoried.
The competent authorities must develop plans for the proper management of water resources.
Water conservation requires intensive research, training of many specialists and the
development of appropriate public awareness.
Water is a legacy of all people and must be protected from all. It is the responsibility of each of
us to use the water sparingly and wisely.
The management of water resources must take place within natural catchments and not within
administrative limits.
Water knows no boundaries – it belongs to all mankind and requires international cooperation.
Structure of the water resources-water sector system.
•
Water governance relates to the range of political, social, economic, and administrative
systems that are in place to develop and manage water resources and the delivery of
water services at different levels of society (Rogers & Hall, 2003). Or put more simply,
water governance is the set of systems that control decision-making regarding water
resource development and management. Hence, water governance is much more about
the way in which decisions are made (i.e., how, by whom, and under what conditions
decisions are made) than the decisions themselves (Moench et al., 2003).
•
The water sector, as a share of the public administration, deals with the management of
the water resources and administrative units of the central and local authorities, which
take decisions in the field of protection and development of the use of water resources,
using legal, administrative, and economic instruments for this purpose (Bonenberg et
al., 2006). The management shall be carried out in coordination with the actions for
5
protection and protection of the environment and the processes of socio-economic
development of the country and its regions.
•
Water management as a scientific strand is both cognitive in nature and serving in terms
of water resource management. A characteristic feature of the water sector is its use of
the results of water-related research conducted by almost all shares of science. The
implementation of the results of these studies, as well as those of own research, relate
mainly to the planning, design, and operation of water management systems for the
rational use of water resources within spatial systems, the limits of which are determined
by river catchment.
The main element of the water sector system is water resources, dynamically changing in the
large and small hydrological cycle, together with the sites and facilities serving for water
retention, transmission, consumption, and purification. For the maintenance of water resources
in good condition, the protection and maintenance of aquatic ecosystems is essential. Elements
of the water sector system are also the different users and their facilities.
The system is managed by the relevant institutions (monitoring, management, control),
use of legal regulations, economic instruments and administrative decisions. In addition to
meeting the various objectives related to water supply, protecting water resources from
pollution and preserving their "good condition" (definition introduced under the WFD), an
important task is to protect society and the economy from the negative effects of disasters
caused by periodic water shortages or surpluses (drought and floods). However, the question of
the future is not 'environmental protection', or 'Water Management', but the question of what
water management should be, or otherwise, how the water resources system should be managed
, a water sector in areas of natural value, or for other reasons particularly important for the
protection of the environment.
the needs and reallocation of water resources. Such
contradictions have long been involved in the problems of water management - from the classic
dilemma - dam management, the purpose of which is to protect the population from floods and
electricity generation (of course, this requires a hydropower plant). To solve these problems,
very detailed theoretical methods and effective practical solutions have been developed.
The practical application of the principles of integrated water resource management in the water
sector system is not an easy task, as actions related to water management often lead to changes
in the natural characteristics of water resources. Should all these changes be negative from an
environmental point of view? For example, for the existenceof a number of bird species, it is
particularly important for the existence of a number of bird species to improve river navigation,
river channel drainage or flooding, the construction of or the construction of flood protection
6
systems, hinder the maintenance of natural water dynamics, natural changes in the morphology
of troughs or regular drainage of river valleys, i.e. lead to the reduction or elimination of factors
that shape ecosystems and habitats in troughs and river valleys. The main activities in water
management are dual. On the one hand, it is possible to change the natural distribution of water
resources in time or space, with the help of special hydrotechnical events. This direction, in
English, was called supply management, and was dominant in water management in the
majority of countries until around the late 1970s. But gradually more and more attention has
been paid to the possibility of modeling the needs (of the population and economy) of water in
the direction of limiting them. Not giving up on irreplaceable supply management activities
altogether, various activities referred to in English as 'demand management' (water intensity
limitation) began to be supported. This change has happened for at least two reasons. First, the
implementation
of
large
hydrotechnical
projects
is
increasingly
confronted
by
environmentalists and environmental activists in various circles of non-governmental
organizations. Secondly, overcoming the energy crisis of the 1970s has clearly shown that only
demand-side management (reducing energy intensity) and not supply management (building
new power plants) is the most effective way to overcome difficulties in supplying the population
and the economy with electricity. It is no coincidence that it is precisely the actions of the type
of demand management (reduction of water intensity, raw intensity and energy intensity) and
not supply management (construction of new power plants) that are the best way to overcome
the difficulties in the supply of electricity. It is no coincidence that the actions of a type of
demand management should be essential for the practical realization of the sustainable
development requirements, which in turn are the basis of the environmental policy of the
Republic of Bulgaria.
The water-economic context of sustainable development must be differentiated in the following
three areas:
(i) the formation of water resources in river catchment
(ii) the use of water resources and their conservation and protection
(iii) protection against natural disasters associated with excess or water scarcity (floods,
droughts) which have a direct link to the risks still unclear from global climate change.
In area (I), the most important thing is to assess to what extent, other water policy policies
(regional policy, energy policy, agricultural, etc.) consider the need to protect processes related
to the formation of water resources. This applies to the maintenance in "very good condition"
not only of rivers, lakes, and wetlands, but also of water catchment areas, the state of which
determines the course of the processes forming surface water and groundwater. Area (ii) covers
7
the rationalization and shaping of water needs of water users (population, industry, heat and
agriculture). It should be noted that the natural environment and aquatic ecosystems cannot be
considered only as water users. Their condition largely determines the processes related to
maintaining the quality of water resources at the required level. Finally, in area (III) in flood
protection, it is essential to plan and implement human protection against intermittent flooding,
but also to move it to a "safe distance" from a river or lake, forming potential threats. Here it
should be emphasized that periodic floods are in many cases necessary to maintain both aquatic
ecosystems and terrestrial (in English, the so-called pulse pulse). When it comes to drought,
prevention opportunities are limited, but there must be a clearly outlined action plan to be taken
to limit the effects of these phenomena.
Fig. 2 Schematic illustrations for sustainable water resources management (Cheng et al, 2021)
Cheng, Hefa & Hu, Yuanan & Cheng, H & Hu, Yingmo. (2021). Climatic Change Improving China's
water resources management for better adaptation to climate change.
8
3.
Surface water resources. Flowing water resources, quality assessment and
classification. Stagnant water resources, natural and artificial retention of
resources. Groundwater resources – static and operational. Criteria for quality
assessment, classification of groundwater resources
Surface water resources is water in a rivers, lakes or freshwater wetlands. Surface water
is naturally replenished by precipitation and naturally lost through discharge to the oceans,
evaporation, and sub-surface seepage. Although the only natural input to any surface water
system is precipitation within its watershed, the total quantity of water in that system at any
given time is also dependent on many other factors. These factors include storage capacity in
lakes, wetlands and artificial reservoirs, the permeability of the soil beneath these storage
bodies, the runoff characteristics of the land in the watershed, the timing of the precipitation
and local evaporation rates. Surface water flow is simply the continuous movement of water in
runoff or open channels. This flow is often quantified as discharge, defined as the rate of flow
or the volume of water that passes through a channel cross section in a specific period.
Discharge can be reported as total volume (m3), as a rate such as cubic meters per second (m3
/s) or heights of the runoff layer [mm] with characteristic (average, probable, with a specific
duration) for a given river cross-section. Surface water resources, depending on the
measurement data available, are determined by direct, indirect, and empirical methods.
Determination of discharge (usually symbolized as Q) thus requires two measurements: the
velocity of moving water (V, e.g., in m/s) and the cross-sectional area of the water in the channel
(A, e.g, in m2). The product of these two measurements gives discharge in volume per unit time:
Q = V *A
Available resources (flows) - the difference between the flow of water in the river and the
base flow (the one which, due to various non-economic criteria, must remain in the river). So,
it is water that can be used. Surface water resources require quantitative and qualitative
assessment.
Balance equations are used to assess water resources. The general water balance equation is:
P - R - G - E - T = DS
where:
P- precipitation [unit of heigt] or [unit of volume/unit of time]
R - runoff, [unit of height] or [unit of volume/unit of time]
R = Rout - Rin
Rout = runoff as outflow from the water body/hydrologic region
Rin = runoff as inlfux into the water body/hydrologic region
Groundwater flow, [unit of height] of [unit of volume/unit of time]
G = Gout - Gin
Gout = groundwater as outflow from the water body/hydrologic region
9
Gin = groundwater as influx into the water body/hydrologic region
E - evaporation, [unit of height] or [unit of volume/unit of time]
T - transpiration, [unit of height] or [unit of volume/unit of time]
DS - change in storage, [unit of height] or [unit of volume/unit of time]
In a simplified form:
PRECIPITATION
=
SURFACE
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION [mm].
RUNOFF
+
GROUNDWATER
+
The calculations are made for the control profiles that close the catchments. The water and
economic balance should be dynamic, i.e., consider the temporal variability of the input data
(resources, needs, discharges, work rules ...). The mutual relations between the qualitative and
quantitative balance of surface and ground waters should be considered.
Water and economic balances are the basis for the assessment of:
• opportunities to meet the water needs,
• impact of hydrotechnical facilities,
• shaping of flows (considering the water use),
• the size and quality of water resources,
• the size and quality of wastewater discharged into water
Fig. 2. Water balance in basin
10
STATIC SURFACE WATER RESOURCES
The formation of lakes is under the complex influence of various factors, leading of which are
geological processes and climatic conditions. The regime (hydrodynamic, temperature,
chemical, biological) of the lakes is under the dominant influence of the climate.
The formation of lake basins is a consequence of the action of tectonic and/or exogenous
processes. With the dominant influence of tectonic processes, lake basins are larger in area and
with greater depth, and under the predominant influence of exogenous processes - smaller lakes
with smaller water mass.
Climatic conditions presuppose the formation of lakes through precipitation and air
temperature. Favorable conditions for the existence of lakes are in cool and humid areas, where
the inflow of rainwater is greater than the cost of evaporation. Precipitation is one of the main
revenue elements in the water balance of lakes and has a great influence on the chemical
composition of lake waters. The air temperature determines the losses of water mass in
evaporation and the thermals of the lakes. Under the influence of the winds in the lakes currents
and waves are formed.
Among the hydrological factors with the greatest influence on the regime and properties of lake
waters are rivers. The inflow of river waters, as well as the outflow of rivers from lakes has a
direct impact on the water balance of lake systems, on the dynamics, temperature and chemical
composition of lake waters.
Water balance of the lakes. The water balance of lakes is determined by the ratio between
income and water consumption. The income of water is realized from the precipitation over the
water surface, from river waters, from condensation of water vapor over the lake surface.
Consumption elements in the water balance are evaporation, runoff of rivers flowing out of the
lake, filtration of lake waters, consumption of water for commercial purposes. Under certain
conditions, some of the balance sheet items are missing or insignificant and can be ignored. For
example, filtration of lake waters, condensation of water vapor, etc. is completely absent or of
insignificant value. Of all the elements of the lake's water balance, the most important are the
revenue of river and rainwater and the cost of evaporation. Their values are variable and are
closely dependent on climatic conditions and the relationship between the area of the lake and
the area of its catchment area.
The water balance equation has the following form:
∆S = Is + Iu + Pi– Qs– Qu- E
11
where ∆S is the accumulation of water; Is - surface inflow; Iu - underground tributary; Pi precipitation over the lake; Qs - surface runoff; Qu - underground outflow; E - evaporation.
GROUND WATER RESOURCES (physically bound water and free water): soil and ground
water and deep water. The term groundwater is usually reserved for the subsurface water that
occurs beneath the water table in soils and geologic formations that are fully saturated.
Static reserves - the amount of water that has accumulated in the voids of the aquifer and can
be released under the action of gravitational forces; The size of the reserves is determined by
the capacity (water supply) of the aquifers.
Elastic reserves - reserves in the pressure aquifers (especially in deep deposits), which can be
extracted from them by lowering the groundwater level at the expense of the elastic properties
of water and rocks. They depend on the coefficient of elastic water yield and the volume of
possible depression on the piezometric surface of the pressure layer;
Dynamic (natural) resources are numerically equal to the amount of water that is fed (from
infiltration of atmospheric or river water, from the underlying aquifers, etc.) or drained from
the aquifer in natural conditions. Dynamic resources are equal to the sum of the revenue
elements of the water balance for a given horizon. They are determined by various methods but
are most accurately determined by Tim's method. They can also be determined by the sum of
the cost water balance elements (evaporation, transpiration, springs, filtration, etc.)
The term artificial reserves mean the volume of groundwater in the formation formed as a result
of irrigation, filtration from dams or artificial replenishment of groundwater.
Artificial resources are the waters entering the aquifer during filtration from canals and dams,
from irrigated terrains, etc.
Artificial Recharge of Groundwater Resources - the volume of water entering the aquifer during
intensive groundwater recharge, caused by the operation of hydraulic facilities.
Exploitation reserves (resources) - the amount of water of a given quality, which can be
obtained with modern technical options in an economically rational way. The technical aspect
is that the operational reserves are usually expressed as the average daily flow of water intake
facilities (boreholes, galleries, shaft wells, catchments of springs, etc.) for the entire period of
their operation. The operational stocks depend on the layout of the water intake facilities, their
construction and mode of operation. The ecological aspect consists in the fact that the
exploitation of the deposits must be carried out in a way that guarantees the quality of the
extracted water and the protection of the environment. The assessment of the operational
12
reserves is made for the whole hydrogeological structure (regional assessment) or for the
exploitation section (local assessment).
Groundwater depletion - the extraction of groundwater in an amount exceeding the natural
and artificial nutrition of aquifers. To overcome this negative process, control over the operation
of groundwater and artificial replenishment of their reserves is carried out.
Control over the operation of groundwater - development and implementation of activities for
rational use of groundwater: use of other water sources instead of groundwater; limiting the
area of construction in the recharge areas of aquifers; systematic control over the construction
and operation of water intake facilities.
Artificial replenishment of groundwater reserves
According to the goals and scales of this activity differ: local replenishment or artificial
replenishment of operational stocks in the field of existing water intake facilities; regional
replenishment or storage of surface water to increase the total groundwater reserves in an
aquifer (creation of groundwater reservoirs). The difference between local and regional
replenishment is mainly in the degree of technical human intervention. At the present stage, the
local replenishment of the reserves is more widely applied, which is carried out in several ways:
periodic flooding with surface water of the area around the exploitation wells; construction of
special terrestrial infiltration basins - ditches, furrows (open type facilities); construction of
absorbing shaft wells, galleries, boreholes, etc. (closed type of facilities)
Groundwater pollution - a process in which there are noticeable adverse changes in the
chemical and biological composition of groundwater in each area. Groundwater pollution can
be chemical (enrichment with inorganic and organic components - sulfates, nitrates,
phosphates, chlorides, heavy metals, petroleum products, etc.), biological (bacteria and
viruses), radioactive (pollution with strontium-90, cesium). 137, cobalt-60, iodine-131) and
heat (raising the temperature above natural). Groundwater pollution can be widespread and
cover a significant part of the thickness of the aquifer. The ways of penetration of the pollutants
are indirectly through the aeration zone and directly - through karst abysses and lithological
windows, from polluted rivers and others. When the pollutant enters directly, its concentration
is equal to the concentration of the source of pollution. It is safer to penetrate the pollutant
through the aeration zone, which is a consequence of the purifying properties of the rocks. In
this case, the penetration time from the earth's surface to the groundwater level t
The spread of pollutants in aquifers depends mainly on the following factors: convective
transport of matter from the moving stream; dispersion (scattering) of a substance by the
filtration path at the expense of the filtration inhomogeneity of the medium and the processes
13
of molecular diffusion; uptake (sorption) of a substance due to the various processes of
interaction between the filtration medium and the pollutants; elimination (destruction) of a
substance as a result of radioactive, hydrolytic or biochemical decomposition.
4.
Systems for monitoring the status of water, assessment of the status of surface
water. Water quality standards. Classification of the quality status of surface water
bodies.
One of the essential aspects of water quality management is the operational control carried out
by the competent state bodies. Through planned or incidental inspections (on economic sites is
assessed the compliance of their activities related to the use of water and water bodies with the
requirements of the legislation on water quality protection. On this basis, prescriptions are
issued, or sanctions are imposed for bringing the activity into compliance with the set norms
and indicators.
Unlike control activities, monitoring as an element of management aims to gather objective
information about the effectiveness of measures and actions taken and thus to serve as feedback
for management decisions. Ecological monitoring is defined as a complex system of activities
for monitoring, assessment and forecasting of the state of the environment and its components
under the influence of anthropogenic impacts. With this one term also refers to the information
system for data collection, processing, archiving and submission.
Purpose and tasks of water monitoring
The monitoring of the waters has the following tasks:
1. conducting laboratory and field measurements and systematic observations to determine the
state of the waters.
2. quality control of the results.
3. processing, analysis, visualization, and storage of the information.
4. providing information about the connection between the atmospheric, surface and
underground waters.
5. providing information for the purposes of the river basin management plans during the
development of the programs of measures.
6. providing information on the state of the waters at basin and national level.
7. providing information for compiling the water balance at basin and national level; providing
information when planning and conducting control.
8. providing information for warning in case of danger of floods and pollution.
9. implementation of information exchange.
14
10. providing information for risk assessment for human health and the environment.
11. substantiation of proposals for change in the monitoring networks.
12. providing information on the condition of the waters, the specifics of the monitoring of
which are regulated in other normative acts, including for:
(а) surface water intended for drinking and domestic water supply;
(b) waters polluted and / or threatened with nitrate pollution from agricultural sources;
(c) the groundwater, polluted and / or endangered by pollution with harmful, dangerous,
priority and priority dangerous substances in the sense of the ordinance of art. 135, item 2 of
the Water Act;
d) bathing water.
(e) coastal and territorial sea waters.
(f) habitats of fish and shellfish.
Surface water monitoring programs are developed on the basis of:
1. typology of water bodies to determine the specific reference conditions.
2. determination of the boundaries of the water bodies within the defined types.
3. derivation of type-specific reference conditions and classification system for assessment of
the condition of the water bodies.
4. analysis of the impact of human activity on the condition of water bodies, analysis of the data
from observations on biological, physicochemical, chemical and hydromorphological
characteristics of water bodies, assessment of their condition, assessment of the degree of
effectiveness of applied measures for protection and improvement of water, risk assessment of
failure to achieve the environmental protection objectives set out in Chapter Ten, Section III of
the Water Act.
5. formulation of the objectives for protection of the environment and norms for water quality
depending on the typology and the analyses under item 4.
6. formulation of a system for assessment of the condition of large water bodies, which include
more than one monitoring point for the different elements.
7. review of the existing networks and the implemented programs for monitoring of the surface
waters.
Groundwater monitoring programs are developed based on.
1. the characterization of the underground water body and the impact of the human activities
on it in accordance with the requirements, specified in the ordinance of art. 135, item 2 of the
Water Act.
2. the objectives for protection of the environment, determined for the underground water body.
15
3. the determined quality standards and thresholds of groundwater pollution.
4. the quantitative and chemical state of the groundwater determined during the characterization
under item 1.
5. the conditions under which the chemical status of a groundwater body is determined to be
good.
6. review of the existing networks and the implemented programs for groundwater monitoring.
7. analysis of the results of the conducted groundwater monitoring.
The ecological status of surface waters is determined by the status of the surface water body,
assessed by the values of the biological quality elements and the physicochemical and
hydromorphological elements.
Measured indicators are divided into three groups:
- Main physicochemical parameters - temperature, pH, insoluble substances, electrical
conductivity, nutrients (NH4-N, NO3-N, PO4), dissolved oxygen, oxygen saturation,
permanganate oxidizability, BOD, COD, iron, manganese, sulphates, chlorides and etc.;
- Priority substances.
- Specific pollutants - Specific pollutants - organic substances, heavy metals and metalloids,
cyanides, phenols, and other specific substances.
Water quantities are also measured at the monitoring points. The results of the measurements
are received monthly from the regional laboratories in the national database in the EEA - Sofia
and the basin directorates.
The biological quality elements used in the hydrobiological monitoring of surface waters are
defined in the Water Framework Directive 2000/60 / EC (Article 8, Annex V) and Ordinance
№5 on water monitoring: phytoplankton and other aquatic flora (macrophytes and
phytobenthic), macroinvertebrates and fish. The minimum frequency for monitoring is once a
year, except for phytoplankton monitoring, for which the minimum frequency is twice a year.
Биотичен Индекс
Качество на водата
5; 4 – 5; 4
3–4
3
2-3
2; 1 – 2; 1
Чисти, незамърсени
Слабо замърсени
Слабо до средно замърсени
Средно замърсени
Силно замърсени
Биологична класификация на
качеството на реките по
БДС EN ISO 8689-1:2001
Много добро
Добро
Умерено
Недобро
Лошо
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