Risk-Informed Management of European River Basins (The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry)

The growing impacts of economic activities and climate change on the conditions of rivers throughout the world, require a new, integrated approach towards river basin management, an approach that can also cope with an uncertain future. In this volume, leading European scientists and representatives of major stakeholder groups present risk-informed management as this new approach, as developed in the European Commission-funded project RISKBASE. It aims to improve the ecological quality of river basins and thus to sustain the goods and services they provide for the benefit of society. Risk-informed management involves the integrated application of three key-principles:        Being well informed        Managing adaptively        Pursuing a participatory approach The authors explain and underpin these principles in detail, offer inspiring examples from practice and connect them to the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). This book is intended for scientists, consultants and practitioners concerned about river basins, world-wide, as well as the drafters and implementers of the WFD River Basin Management Plans. Introduction: the Need for Risk-Informed River Basin Management Jos Brils , Damia Barcelo , Winfried Blum , Werner Brack , Bob Harris , Dietmar Mller , Philippe Ngrel , Vala Ragnarsdottir , Wim Salomons , Adriaan Slob , Thomas Track , Joop Vegter,  and Jan Vermaat   Section A – Understanding River Ecosystems   Soil – Sediment – River Connections: Catchment Processes delivering Pressures to River Catchments Philippe Ngrel , Corine Merly, Laurence Gourcy, Olivier Cerdan, Emmanuelle Petelet-Giraud, Martin Kralik , Gerard Klaver , Geert van Wirdum, and Joop Vegter   Status and Causal Pathway Assessments Supporting River Basin Management Peter C. von der Ohe , Sabine E. Apitz , Kestutis Arbaciauskas , Mikhail A. Beketov , Dietrich Borchardt , Dick de Zwart , Willem Goedkoop , Michaela Hein , Seppo Hellsten , Daniel Hering , Ben J. Kefford , Vadim E. Panov , Ralf B. Schfer , Helmut Segner , Jos van Gils , Joop J. Vegter , Markus A. Wetzel , and Werner Brack   Monitoring Programs, Multiple Stress Analysis and Decision Support for River Basin Management Peter C. von der Ohe , Dick de Zwart , Elena Semenzin , Sabine E. Apitz , Stefania Gottardo, Bob Harris , Michaela Hein , Antonio Marcomini, Leo Posthuma, Ralf B. Schfer , Helmut Segner,  and Werner Brack   Section B – Anticipating Change   Downscaling Scenarios as an Exploratory Tool for River Basin Management – an Introduction Jan E.Vermaat , Wim Salomons, Alison J. Gilbert and Fritz A. Hellmann   Informing River Basin Management on Flood and Drought Risks Taking Future Uncertainties into Account Aline te Linde , Hans de Moel, and Jeroen Aerts   Future Land Use Patterns in European River Basins: Scenario Trends in Urbanization, Agriculture and Land Use Fritz A. Hellmann  and Hans de Moel   Framing the Uncertain Future: Articulating IPCC-SRES Scenarios for European River Basins Jan E.Vermaat , Sabine E. Apitz , Winfried Blum , Bob Harris , Fritz A. Hellmann, Wim Salomons, and Tijs van Maasakkers   Section C – Connecting to the Social System   Integrated River Basin Management and Risk Governance Dietmar Mller , Marie Valentin Florin , Bob Harris , Damian Crilly , Goran Gugic , Joop Vegter , Adriaan Slob , Ilke Borowski , and Jos Brils   Ecosystem Services and River Basin Management Kate A. Brauman , Suzanne van der Meulen , and Jos Brils   Participatory Approaches and the Role of Facilitative Leadership Mattijs van Maasakkers , Michael Duijn,  and Britta Kastens   How Spatial Planning Can Connect to River Basin Management Geiske Bouma , and Adriaan Slob   Improving the Connection Between Science and Policy for River Basin Management Adriaan Slob , and Michael Duijn   Section D – Synthesis and Recommendations   Synthesis and Recommendations Towards Risk-Informed River Basin Management Jos Brils , Bob Harris , Damia Barcelo , Winfried Blum , Werner Brack , Dietmar Mller , Philippe Ngrel , Vala Ragnarsdottir , Wim Salomons , Adriaan Slob , Thomas Track , Joop Vegter,  and Jan Vermaat