engleski

Assessment of hydromorphological potential of heavily modified/artificial water bodies in Croatia

Latest Water Framework Directive (WFD) guidance documents provide a comprehensive review of methods and guidelines in order to improve comparability of heavily modified water bodies (HMWB) in the European Union. However, currently there is still no common single methodology neither for monitoring of HMWB and artificial water bodies (AWB) nor for determining maximum (MEP) and good ecological potential (GEP). In Croatia, the first assessment of hydromorphological potential of HMWB and AWB started in 2020 and it was based on a type- specific score scale. The typology of HMWB was developed according to ecoregion type, basin size, flow intermittency and the dominantly modified hydromorphological feature: hydrology, longitudinal continuity or morphology. AWB were typified considering their most distinct features: large changes in daily flow, disturbed groundwater-surface water interactions, and large seasonal changes in flow. The typologies can be easily related to uses of water bodies since each use is characterized by distinct hydromorphological modifications. The classes of hydromorphological potential were graded from the theoretical MEP, which was determined by the score scale as the tolerated deviation from natural reference conditions, considering the use of the water body and / or the wider environment according to the WFD. The hydromorphological parameters included in monitoring and assessment were type-specific and not directly related to the use of the water body and / or the wider environment. In the case of AWB, the parameters dependent on natural reference conditions, which are non-existent, were also omitted from the assessment.

hydromorphology ; ecological potential ; Croatia

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