People rarely consider where their tap water comes from, or how much of it is actually available. At the same time, it is people who are most often responsible for water pollution. Problems involving the contamination of water-supply areas in Poland are scrutinized by an “intervention team” of experts at the Polish Hydrogeological Survey.
Forecasts suggest that the freshwater resources available to our civilization will shrink by 30% in the coming two decades. How can we reverse the degradation of water resources and create a balance between the society’s demand for water and the capacity of the hydrosphere?
CropSyst model can be used as irrigation water management tool to increase wheat productivity with poor quality water. The objective of this study was to calibrate CropSyst model for wheat irrigated with fresh and agricultural drainage water. To do so, three field experiments were conducted during three successive seasons in Nubaria Agricultural Research Station, Egypt representing the newly reclaimed calcareous soils. In the first season the treatments were 100% crop evapotranspiration (ETc) of fresh water (FW) and 100% ETc of agricultural drainage water (DW), while in the second and the third seasons, the treatments were 100% ETc of FW, 100% ETc of DW, 120% ETc of DW and 130% ETc of DW. From these results one can concluded that deducting 5% of the applied water to all treatments reduced yield by 3, 5 and 7% in the first, second and third growing season, respectively as a result of heat stress existed in the 2nd and 3rd seasons during reproductive phase. Furthermore, deducting 5% of the applied water from all treatments in the vegetative phase only resulted in lower yield losses. Thus, using CropSyst model could guide us to when we could reduce the applied irrigation water to wheat to avoid high yield losses.
The Netherlands has a long tradition in water management, mainly stemming from the geography of the country. The ‘struggle with water’ has been organised from medieval times by the water boards (waterschappen), which are the oldest democratic institutions in the Netherlands. Nowa-days the water boards, 27 in the whole of the Netherlands, are not only responsible for flood protec-tion and regulation of water levels, but for water quality management and waste water treatment as well. In the years in which the WFD implementation has been underway in the Netherlands, several issues have arisen. Cooperation between all levels of government is key. This requires as clear as possible divisions of competences between the various parties involved. It also takes much time, es-pecially in a process in which many matters have to be invented ‘on the fly’, such as criteria for des-ignating water bodies, ecological standards, and the formulation of MEP and GEP.
Polish water resources depend on precipitations, which are variable in time and space. In dry years the water balance is negative in central parts of Poland but sudden thaws and downfalls may result in periodical water excess and dangerous floods almost in the entire country. The retention capacity of artificial reservoirs in Poland permits to store only 6% of the average annual runoff, which is commonly considered insufficient. Another method to increase retention is soil water con-trol. About fifty percent of soils in Poland consist of light and very light sandy soils with low water capacity. Loams and organogenic soils cover approximately 25% and 8.5% area of the country, re-spectively. Almost half of agricultural lands (48%) have relatively good water conditions, but the rest requires soil water control measures. An increase of the soil water content could be achieved by changes of soil properties, water table control and soil water management. Modernization and recon-struction of drainage and irrigation systems, which were built mainly in the period 1960–1980, is needed.
The research was set up in the Neretva River valley in the Southern part of Croatian Karst area, where implementation of modern hydrotechnical practices within the river catchment’s area led to intrusion of seawater to groundwater resulting in soil salinization in the delta. The region has great agro-ecological potential for intensive production of vegetables and Mediterranean fruits. Since the combination of the effects of saline groundwater and the use of this water for irrigation may have disastrous effects on the productivity of agricultural soils water, a project was started in order to set up a permanent monitoring network. The aim of this study was to determine the salt dynamics in the surface water on five locations which are considered as potential sources of the irrigation water (Modric canal, Neretva River near Opuzen, Crepina, Jasenska and Vidrice pumping station) during a 4-year period (1999–2002). The surface water samples had been collected on monthly basis and analyzed for all parameters required in the irrigation water quality classification. The results show considerable spatial and temporal variability of determined parameters. Thus, in the Neretva River near Opuzen, total salt concentrations in water ranged from 0.4 to 7.7 dS·m–1, and in Modric from 1.65 up to17.2 dS·m–1. Dominant cations and anions on all observed locations were Na+ and Cl–. Constantly high concentration of Na+ in sampled surface waters is of a special concern. Utilization of the water of such quality may cause problems related to the use of alkaline waters for irrigation, which can further cause permanent loss of fertile soil.
The Baltic is a unique brakish sea. Its moderate salinity is the result of the fresh river water input and non-periodic inflows of salty, oxygenated waters from the North Sea. However, the balance continually fluctuates. What impact does that have on the sea?
Permanent grasslands – according to the Water Framework Directive – are typical water related ecosystems so they largely affect water quality, its cycling and balance and therefore deserve protection. They are an element of landscape structure (ecosystem function or service) commonly considered a factor stabilising environmental changes.
Most threats posed to waters in Poland originate from present cropland structure with its definite predominance of arable lands over grasslands. Agriculture should therefore focus on the improvement of land use structure in order to minimise environmental hazards and to guarantee at the same time optimum economic effects. This could be achieved by turning arable lands into grasslands (where justified e.g. on light soils) or at least by maintaining present grassland area (condition in negotiations with the EU) and management that would consider environmental protection.
Increasing the contribution of grasslands to cropland structure or at least maintaining their pre-sent status quo would help to achieve compromise between the goals of farmers and environmental protection. Purposeful utilisation of ecosystem services, particularly those of grasslands, allows to maintain more intensive farming without environmental hazard. Limited should be only such activi-ties whose intensity exceeds regenerative or buffering environmental capacity e.g. on grounds par-ticularly subjected to water pollution or those included into Natura 2000 network.
During the past several years big changes have been observed in waste water disposal, noticeable particularly in the improvement of water protection and sewage treatment. An important element of waste water disposal still requiring improvement is a low development of sewage systems in rural and urban areas. The main problem is an increasing amount of sludge, high degree of sediment hydration and considerable ability to anaerobic decomposition, a lack of areas for managing sediments near big cities and deposits of sediments on storage areas. Selected issues of waste water disposal and sludge handling in the Mazovian Province against a background of waste water disposal and sludge handling in Poland were presented in the article.
Views on the objectives and role of water management have remarkably changed in the last years. The need of a complex water management that would consider all water users including agriculture and natural environment is often underlined. It is pointed out that agriculture and natural environment (including commercial forests) are basic consumers of precipitation water which is not considered in water and economic balances. More and more importance is attributed to the utilisation of waters from catchment basin and to application of non-technical measures of controlling water cycles. A large impact of agro-ecosystems and natural or semi-natural (forests, wetlands) ecosystems on water balance is underlined. This different approach to the problems of water management is expressed e.g. in Water Framework Directive of European Union devoted to surface and ground water protection. The directive attributes a great role to the protection of aquatic and water related ecosystems. More and more often it is realised that the total water resources are equal to the volume of atmospheric precipitation. Water management should involve not only the water in geological aquifers or river channels but also that which is retained in soil profile. Such elements of water balance as spatial distribution, interception, infiltration and recharge of ground water reservoirs, soil retention capacity, surface runoff and evapotranspiration depend largely on land use in a catchment. Through appropriate land use and catchment management, application of rational agro-technical methods, development of small retention, wetland restoration, and hampering water outflow from draining systems one may significantly affect water cycling in a catchment.
Small water resources of Poland, increasing water consumption, climate changes and requirements of environmental protection enforce the implementation of complex methods of water management and search for environmental-friendly methods of limiting economic losses caused by water deficit or excess. Saving water used for economic purposes and agriculture would permit better fulfilment of the needs of natural environment.
Możliwość zastosowania nietradycyjnej metody utylizacji odpadowych gazów cieplarnianych, przez zatłaczanie CO2 (sekwestracja) w porowate złoża geologiczne traktowane jako niekonwencjonalne zbiorniki gazu, wymaga spełnienia podstawowych kryteriów takich jak np. wpływ na środowisko oraz długoletnie składowanie. Istotną kwestią jest fizyczne zachowanie się złoża podczas fazy nasycania jego struktury porowatej dwutlenkiem węgla. Należy tutaj przede wszystkim wymienić: zdolność transportu CO2 wzdłuż struktury porowatej oraz zdolność adsorpcyjną. W artykule przedstawiono wyniki badań sorpcji pary wodnej na próbkach węgla pochodzących z wytypowanych KWK o zróżnicowanej zawartości pierwiastka C. Uzyskane wyniki przedstawiono w postaci izoterm sorpcji i desorpcji w temperaturze 303 K, oraz opisano równaniem izotermy adsorpcji BET. Na podstawie danych sorpcji obliczono powierzchnię właściwą, zgodnie z teorią BET. Ilość zasorbownych cząsteczek pary wodnej dla badanych próbek węgla była zależna od stopnia metamorfizmu. Otrzymane izotermy można zaliczyć do typu II według klasyfikacji BET. Do badań sorpcyjnych zastosowano aparaturę typu objętościowego – adsorpcyjną mikrobiuretkę cieczową. Sorpcja pary wodnej w zastosowaniu dla węgli pozwala na ilościowe określenie pierwotnych centrów adsorpcji jako miary oddziaływań adsorbowanych cząsteczek z powierzchnią adsorbentu. Na podstawie równań adsorpcji BET z izoterm sorpcji pary wodnej określono ilości aktywnych centr adsorpcji, które potencjalnie mogą brać udział w adsorpcji CO2 w pokładach węgla podczas wtłaczania tego gazu. Pojemność sorpcyjna węgli pozostaje w korelacji ze stopniem metamorfizmu jak również ma ogromny wpływa na możliwość magazynową złoża.
Suspended matter, phytoplankton and light attenuation were investigated in various North East Greenland, Svalbard and Siberian river mouths in 1992-1994. The amount of mineral suspensions well correlated with freshwater discharge in the case of tidal glacier bays, while such correlation in Siberian rivers and pack ice meltwater was not found. Freshwater phytoplankton species were found in Siberian estuaries only and in two other ecosystems marine and ice phytoplankton species prevailed. The light attenuation connected with freshwater discharge seems to be a key factor limiting primary production in coastal Actic waters in the summer. The amount of glacial suspensions well correlated with the salinity drop in the case of Svalbard, while Siberian river estuaries produced very turbid waters with the suspension loads not correlated to freshwater or depth.
Odwadnianie kopalń i wprowadzanie wód słonych do cieków powierzchniowych stanowi jedną z głównych form negatywnych oddziaływań na środowisko, która powinna być właściwie rozwiązana przez przemysł wydobywczy. Duża powierzchnia obszarów górniczych kopalń czynnych i zlikwidowanych oraz budowa geologiczna i warunki hydrogeologiczne górotworu sprawiają, że ilość wód dołowych wypompowywanych rocznie ze wszystkich kopalń Górnośląskiego Zagłębia Węglowego wynosi około 118 mln m3. Coraz większa głębokość eksploatacji i konieczność ochrony czynnych kopalń przed zagrożeniem wodnym przyczyniają się do wzrostu koncentracji chlorków i siarczanów w wodach dołowych wprowadzanych do środowiska, pomimo spadku wielkości wydobycia i malejącej liczby czynnych kopalń. Większość ładunku soli jest wprowadzana do wód powierzchniowych, częściowo z zastosowaniem kontroli koncentracji stężenia soli, jednak z punktu widzenia ochrony środowiska najlepszym rozwiązaniem problemu wód słonych byłoby ich zagospodarowanie w technologiach zapewniających znaczący w skali problemu poziom ich wykorzystania. Grupą takich technologii jest wypełnianie pustek podziemnych, realizowane przede wszystkim w formie doszczelniania zrobów i podsadzania zbędnych wyrobisk górniczych. Z racji kubatury powstających w wyniku bieżącej eksploatacji podziemnej pustek podziemnych, przy uwzględnieniu istniejących ograniczeń, potencjalnie dostępnych do wypełniania jest około 17,7 mln m3 objętości zrobów i wyrobisk. Z uwagi na dostępność popiołów lotnych i innych odpadów przemysłowych, które są głównym komponentem drobnoziarnistych mieszanin do wypełniania pustek, łączna objętość wód zasolonych i solanek, które mogą być zagospodarowane w rozpatrywanych technologiach oszacowano na 3,5–6,5 mln m3 rocznie.