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The Wetland Book pp 1–7Cite as

Water Quality Regulation: Overview

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Abstract

Water quality has deteriorated in many parts of the world with intensive agricultural practices. Nutrients in agricultural runoff are carried towards streams, lakes and coastal areas and cause there serious eutrophication problems, with fish kills and loss of biodiversity as consequences. Wetlands in agricultural catchments have a robust potential to improve water quality by removing nutrients from the agricultural runoff. Creation and restoration of wetlands in the landscape have reduced nitrogen and phosphorus loads downstream by particle trapping, adsorption and nitrification/denitrification processes. Such wetlands should be designed in a way that connects them with surface and subsurface runoff flows. These wetlands have been shown to enhance biodiversity at the landscape scale because they provide habitat for plants, aquatic macrofauna and birds. The wetlands could potentially result in emissions of nitrous oxide and methane, but these do not constitute a major environmental risk at the catchment scale. The benefits in terms of water purification and biodiversity enhancement by far outweigh these risks.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecology and Biodiversity, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Jos T. A. Verhoeven

Authors
  1. Jos T. A. Verhoeven
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jos T. A. Verhoeven .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Ecology and Biodiversity, Charles Sturt University Inst. for Land, Water and Society, Albury, New South Wales, Australia

    C. Max Finlayson

  2. Great Somerford, Wiltshire, United Kingdom

    Mark Everard

  3. Chair of Aquatic Ecosystems, UNESCO-IHE Chair of Aquatic Ecosystems, Delft, The Netherlands

    Kenneth Irvine

  4. RM Wetland & Environment Ltd. , Littleworth, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

    Robert J. McInnes

  5. USGS National Wetlands Research Center , Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

    Beth A. Middleton

  6. Dept. of Water Science and Engineering, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education Dept. of Water Science and Engineering, Delft, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

    Anne A. van Dam

  7. Charles Sturt University , Albury, New South Wales, Australia

    Nick C. Davidson

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Verhoeven, J.T.A. (2016). Water Quality Regulation: Overview. In: Finlayson, C., et al. The Wetland Book. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6172-8_235-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6172-8_235-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6172-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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