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The purpose of this paper is to set out the policy guidelines and recommendations to harmonise the Serbian water legislation with European Union standards in the area of water system management as impacted by climate change.

The EU Water Framework Directive is analysed in the context of implementation of the integrated water management policy presented in the Serbian Water Law (2010), as well as the National Water Management Strategy (2016). It has been found that the water management legislation that deals with the impact of climate change on water resources is incomplete. Although there are numerous challenges related to research of climate change and water systems, water policy and legal aspects cannot be neglected. The so-called soft law instruments represented in a form of strategy documents could be a valuable response in terms of an adaptive and integrated water policy approach.

The research is applied to a case study of the Velika Morava River Basin, at Ljubicevski Most hydrological station. Long-term projections suggest a decrease in annual precipitation levels and annual flows up to the year 2100 for climatic scenarios A1B and A2, accompanied by a rapid increase in air temperatures.

This study proposes a water management policy and provides recommendations for the Velika Morava River Basin as impacted by climate change, according to the European Union legislation.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the prospects of integrated planning and management of the environment in the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and river basin planning.

The paper analyses the legal framework of the WFD and other related water and environmental legislation as well as the provisions for integrative practice in the WFD. Moreover it analyses the potential for integration with issues that are not provided for in the WFD, such as land use. The procedural elements of the WFD and other EU legislation are analysed for identifying common elements within a modern consensus and efficiency based planning mode.

Three aspects of the integrated management framework for water and other environmental resources are highlighted. The first concerns the need for interaction between spatial land use planning and the integrated river basin management plans of the WFD, in order to ensure that land‐use plans do not contradict water goals and that water planning also takes into account broader landscape related aspects. This demands the establishment of platforms for institutional interplay. The second is the need to integrate water goals into sectoral policies. This may be ensured by activating the impact assessment procedures for projects, plans and programmes which may have an impact on water resources and quality. The third concerns elements and procedures which are common to several pieces of legislations (e.g. management plans, monitoring, public participation), and which could benefit from the establishment of common databases, spatial information systems, and methods of communication.

The paper aims to identify key issues related to integration of the WFD with other environmental EU legislation, the associated challenges posed to water management and other environmental management institutions and procedures, and the information systems and methods which may facilitate the integration.

Urmia lake water has impressively decreased recently and seriously endangered the lives of the inhabitants. In this paper, the effects of various factors on the reduction of the lake water are investigated and appropriate scenarios are proposed for future improvement. Due to the significant impact of agricultural issues on this crisis, this paper has focused specifically on agriculture. So, this paper aims to forecast and improve the lake water level.

In this paper, a system dynamics (SD) model, which is capable to consider various parameters and variables affecting the lake water level within nonlinear and dynamic relations, is developed.

To show the effectiveness of SD model, real data are used to run the model and the results show that the actual behavior of the lake water is reproduced with high validation (around 98.28 per cent). Also, five different scenarios are proposed to increase lake water volume. The hybrid Scenario 5 (which combines three other scenarios including increasing irrigation efficiency in the agricultural sector, changing cultivation pattern of agricultural products and returning some dams’ water that are consumed in the agricultural sector into the lake) is chosen as the most effective scenario for increasing lake volume about 15 billion m³.

The main contributions of this paper are systemic view to the whole problem, paying attention to the agriculture subject as one of the most important issues, considering many critical variables (e.g. evaporation, salinity and precipitation) and providing improvement policies along with assessing the effects of them.

This paper aims to respond to recent calls by Jones (2014) and Jones and Solomon (Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 2013) for more studies on biodiversity accounting and reporting. In particular, this paper explores biodiversity reporting of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), an Australian public sector enterprise.

The paper uses content analysis of MDBA’s published annual reports over the period of 15 years (1998-2012). Archival data (from different government departments) are also used to prepare natural inventory model.

The paper finds that although specific species, such as flora and fauna, and habitats-related disclosures have increased over the time, such information still allows only a partial construction of an inventory of natural assets, using Jones’ (1996, 2003) model. However, unlike prior studies that find lack of data availability to be the main impediment for operationalising biodiversity accounting, the abundance of biodiversity data in Australia makes it comparatively easier to produce such a statement.

Informed by the environmental stewardship framework, the results of this paper suggest that the disclosures made by MDBA are constrained potentially due to its use of traditional accounting mechanisms of reporting that only allow tradable items to be reported to stakeholders. An alternative reporting format would be more relevant to stakeholder groups who are more interested in information regarding quality and availability of water, and loss of biodiversity in the basin area rather than the financial performance of the MDBA.

Although there are a growing number of studies exploring biodiversity reporting in Australia, this paper is one of the earlier attempts to operationalise biodiversity (particularly habitats, flora and fauna) within the context of an Australian public sector enterprise.

The tannery industry impacts strongly on water bodies due to the presence of chemical substances, such as chlorides, sulphates, chromium and other pollutants. This study has been carried out with a view to enhance the environmental compatibility of the Arzignano tannery district (northern Italy) which is the largest in Italy, by improving the quality of the Fratta-Gorzone River. Sediment quality, according to the driving forces-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) scheme, has been developed as a significant impact indicator to be applied at basin level. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the above issues.

Data were produced during institutional monitoring and control activities carried out by ARPAV (Veneto Region Environmental Prevention and Protection Agency) according to official methods. To define the environmental impacts on the river basin, a statistical assessment was performed on water and sediment quality data to establish the degree of correlation for the main pollutants along the river stem.

In the basin considered, sediment quality presents high levels of contamination from heavy metals – in particular chromium (Cr) (III) – as well as organic pollutants. Investigation of the pressure sources revealed that the discharge from the Arzignano tannery district is the main source of Cr (III), according to background studies performed in the same area.

The quality of river sediments must be improved in order to avoid the re-suspension/solubility of pollutants; dredged materials with high polluting substances must be managed with specific precautions in order to safeguard the environment.

The river studied is currently the only significant water body in which sediment monitoring has been performed in the Veneto Region (Italy) since 2002. This study presents issues linked to the characterization of river sediment and the correlation between sediment quality and water pollution and prior and current pressure sources.

In Mexico, only 19.3 per cent of industrial water is treated (Green-Peace, 2014, pp. 3-4), whereas municipal treatment levels are approximately 50 per cent (CONAGUA, 2014a). This paper aims to focus on how the wastewater treatment plant policy, from a circular economy perspective, is affected by the governance context at the Presa Guadalupe sub-basin. Circular economy can contribute to water innovations that help in improving water quality. However, such benefits are not easily achieved. This case provides an example of the complexity and challenges that the implementation of a circular economy model can face.

Data are collected via semi-structured in-depth interviews with the stakeholders that are members of the Presa Guadalupe Commission. The contextual interaction theory (CIT) is the theoretical basis for this analysis (Boer de and Bressers, 2011; Bressers, 2009).

The findings show that the wastewater treatment plant policy plays an important role in a circular economy model. Some incentives towards a circular economy model are already in place; however, the hurdles of a top-down implementation perspective, low availability of resources, prioritisation of short-term results, lack of enforcement of the “polluter pays” principle and a linear model of water systems need to be overcome. If Mexico wants to move towards a circular economy model and if the government wants to enforce sustainable development principles, wastewater treatment is a challenge that must be addressed.

There are few studies in the circular economy literature that have analysed its implementation under a governance arrangement perspective.

Any Solution to be effective must identify and meet the distinct needs of each region and every river basin and it is probably best found in the wisdom accumulated over millennia by local inhabitant like navigation channels.His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince of JapanEdo and water Transportation

In the USA and Europe, agricultural nonpoint source (NPS) pollution continues to be among the chief impediments to achieving water quality standards. While the implementation of technology-based water pollution control tools has resulted in evident point source pollution abatement, NPSs continue to threaten surface water and groundwater. The purpose of this paper is to draw from environmental policy literature to identify regulatory tools and management approaches that specifically target agricultural NPS pollution and the factors that drive or impede their implementation and enforcement. This paper utilizes the policy tool framework to help characterize the widespread policy problem, distinguishing its unique set of hurdles from other environmental problems.

Discussion of agricultural NPS pollution management approaches is based on a thorough review of relevant environmental policy and environmental economic literature as well as case studies from the USA and Europe. Analysis is based on the policy tool framework.

This study finds that controlling numerous diffuse sources of agricultural pollution requires an integrated approach that utilizes river basin management and a mix of policy instruments. Additionally, findings suggest that transitioning from voluntary mechanisms to more effective instruments based on measurable water quality performance relies predominantly on three factors: first, more robust quality monitoring data and models; second, local participation; and third, political will.

This research provides important information for regional and national policymakers in areas where there is increasing pollution and regulatory mandates. Identifying conditions of effective water quality policy is applicable and will be of direct use to agencies charged with pollution control.

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of groundwater‐surface water interaction when studying, modeling and assessing climate change impacts on river water management.

The investigations were focused on River Vantaa and its tributaries in southern Finland. The main methods used involved aerial infrared photography, thermal profiling of river sediments, water quality measurements, isotopic composition of oxygen and hydrogen δ¹⁸O, δ²H and river water temperature measurements. The authors present the first results of the field measurements targeted to identify the groundwater recharge and discharge zones within the river system.

Groundwater discharge zones were found to have a significant impact on water quality and volume in River Vantaa and its tributaries. In the drainage basin, the aerial infrared photography seemed to be a feasible and cost‐effective method to identify areas of groundwater discharge across the entire river basin. Around 350 groundwater/surface water interaction sites along the 220 km river system could be identified.

The interaction sites identified during the season of low flow rate should be considered as potential risk areas because during flood periods groundwater quality might be at risk due to bank infiltration. This should be considered in river basin management within predicted changing climatic conditions.

This is the first attempt in Finland to map systematically groundwater and river water interactions. The focus of the paper is relevant, because according to the existing climate scenarios, flooding of the main rivers in Finland will be more frequent in future, increasing the probability of groundwater‐surface water interaction.

How water is managed is emerging as one of the core challenges of sustainable development and earth system governance (Pahl-Wostl, Gupta, & Petry, 2008a; Biermann et al., 2009). Floods and droughts already have a huge impact on human development and well-being. Adaptation to existing climate variability to reduce water insecurities is already a pressing need (Pielke, Prins, Rayner, & Sarewitz, 2007). Securing access to safe drinking water, allocating sufficient water to grow food, protecting life and property from floods, as well as maintaining river and floodplain ecosystems as countries develop economically, however, is a complex set of interlocking and dynamic challenges.