title: Managing water quality under drought conditions in the Llobregat River Basin.
abstract: The primary effects of droughts on river basins include both depleted quantity and quality of the available water resources, which can render water resources useless for human needs and simultaneously damage the environment. Isolated water quality analyses limit the action measures that can be proposed. Thus, an integrated evaluation of water management and quality is warranted. In this study, a methodology consisting of two coordinated models is used to combine aspects of water resource allocation and water quality assessment. Water management addresses water allocation issues by considering the storage, transport and consumption elements. Moreover, the water quality model generates time series of concentrations for several pollutants according to the water quality of the runoff and the demand discharges. These two modules are part of the AQUATOOL decision support system shell for water resource management. This tool facilitates the analysis of the effects of water management and quality alternatives and scenarios on the relevant variables in a river basin. This paper illustrates the development of an integrated model for the Llobregat River Basin. The analysis examines the drought from 2004 to 2008, which is an example of a period when the water system was quantitative and qualitatively stressed. The performed simulations encompass a wide variety of water management and water quality measures; the results provide data for making informed decisions. Moreover, the results demonstrated the importance of combining these measures depending on the evolution of a drought event and the state of the water resources system.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Universitaro de Ingeniería del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Universitat Politècnica de València Spain. Electronic address: anmombe@upv.es.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Momblanch
authors.affiliation: Instituto Universitaro de Ingeniería del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Universitat Politècnica de València Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paredes-Arquiola
authors.affiliation: Agència Catalana de l'Aigua (Catalan Water Agency), Generalitat de Catalunya Spain.
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Munné
authors.affiliation: Agència Catalana de l'Aigua (Catalan Water Agency), Generalitat de Catalunya Spain.
authors.forename: Andreu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manzano
authors.affiliation: Instituto Universitaro de Ingeniería del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Universitat Politècnica de València Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arnau
authors.affiliation: Instituto Universitaro de Ingeniería del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Universitat Politècnica de València Spain.
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Andreu
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D055864:Droughts; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D062066:Water Resources / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: AQUATOOL; Decision making; Integrated model; Water quality; Water resources management