A better understanding of existing nitrate monitoring systems in European waters could greatly improve efforts to reduce nitrate pollution, a major cause of poor water quality, according to new research from Portugal.

Particles from vehicle emissions are not the only traffic-related factor that causes deterioration of air quality in cities. Suspended road dust, caused by studded tyres, road salt and sand used in winter, may be at least as important in contributing to mortality rates, according to a new study in Stockholm, which suggests that these coarse particles should be controlled separately to fine particles.

Farmers have collaborated with scientists in France to evaluate agri-environmental measures that reduce soil erosion and surface water pollution at a catchment level. The exercise helped the farmers understand the benefits of the measures and provides an example of how policymakers could engage with stakeholders under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

Scientists have modelled the potential benefits of decentralised flood protection (DFP) in Central Europe and conclude that it could be a significant step towards natural flood management in the EU.

Energy production uses large quantities of water and, in turn, water provision requires considerable amounts of energy. A new study has investigated the interconnection between water and energy, the ‘water-energy nexus’, in Spain and found that 5.8% of total electricity consumption is for water-use and 25% of water withdrawals are for energy generation.

Under water restrictions, farmers will achieve the optimal balance of income and efficient water use if they combine the planting of crops that require little water with the planting of more profitable crops that need more water, according to research.

Confusing water bills and complex water tariffs could be making it more difficult for consumers to monitor and manage their own water use, according to a survey of householders on the Portuguese island of Madeira.

The health risks to humans of using recycled water to irrigate crops needs to be carefully managed. New research has demonstrated that ‘managed aquifer recharge’ can be just as effective as conventional water treatments in improving the quality of recycled water for use in irrigation.

To restore a river site to good ecological status involves comparing it to similar sites that have been far less affected by human activity. A recent study has established a set of guidelines that define an acceptable level of human pressure that can be used to identify these minimally disturbed sites and ensure consistent ecological assessment among EU Member States.

A new study from Spain has explored economic degrowth (the scaling back of economic models based on growth) in the water sector and indicates that rainwater harvesting and reclaimed water use are most aligned to degrowth principles.

A recent study has found that satellite images can be used to map phytoplankton blooms to aid assessment of the quality of coastal and sea waters. This method can help EU Member States monitor water under the requirements of the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Improving the efficiency of irrigation can help farmers increase profits, meet regulatory requirements for renewing licences, and demonstrate sustainable use of resources for supermarket grower standards. A recent study has assessed water irrigation efficiency in the UK and suggests that the ‘pathway to efficiency’ approach can help farmers and water regulators manage irrigation and water abstraction.

A recent study has assessed the costs and effectiveness of reducing phosphorus pollution for lakes in Scotland, UK, to achieve good ecological status as required by the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD). It was found that phosphorus in 72% of the lake area in Scotland could be mitigated at a cost of £5.7 million (€7 million) per year, which is considered a proportionate or reasonable cost given the resulting social benefits.

Whatever form it takes, urban growth leads to reduced groundwater availability, according to a new study. The paper highlights the fact that urbanisation is not always sustainable and recommends that planners consider no-growth scenarios for economic development.

Together, European policy and research initiatives provide a sound basis for actions to tackle eutrophication in the Mediterranean Sea, a recent analysis concludes. The review brings together scientific understanding from over 50 years of research on eutrophication and a discussion of the policy frameworks currently in place to deal with this issue.

A new study has reviewed the dramatic changes that have taken place over recent decades in ‘network-bound systems’ of electricity grids, water supply and wastewater management. Focusing on case studies in The Netherlands, the study found that consumers are becoming more active participants in the supply of these resources and services.

New research in Ireland has evaluated two policies designed to reduce phosphorus runoff from agricultural land into water. Data indicate that policies need to be better tailored to specific times and locations, in order to deal with, for example, the impact of seasonal changes and different soil types on phosphorus runoff.

An earthquake that killed nine people in Lorca, Spain, last year could have been triggered by groundwater being drained from the area for use in irrigation, according to scientists. The study found that the ground moved in the same places as subsidence has been occurring since the 1960s, due to the extraction of groundwater.

Desalination technologies could help alleviate water shortages, but they need to have low environmental impact. A new life-cycle analysis of desalination options for water supply in off-grid areas indicates that a photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis system has the least environmental impact of the three technologies considered by the study.

Industries, such as paper production, require large amounts of water which can drain vital supplies of fresh drinking water. Researchers working towards the ultimate goal of ‘closing the cycle’ by re-using industrial water onsite have now identified innovative new treatments for wastewater from a paper mill.

New research has shown that policy measures in Denmark have successfully reduced total nitrogen loading to 10 estuaries by 39% in recent decades. However, to fully meet the targets of the EU Nitrates Directive and comply with the EU Water Framework Directive in a cost-effective manner, further mitigation measures must be tailored and focused to particular areas.

A new study has shown that agricultural products make the largest contribution to the water footprint of the EU and recommends reducing food waste, changes in diet and increased agricultural efficiencies. On average, each EU citizen consumes 4,815 litres of water per day, when the water used to produce all goods and services, including those imported into the EU, is accounted for.

Under pressure from rising food prices, many nations have begun to acquire large tracts of agricultural land in foreign countries, a practice known as ‘land grabbing’. New research has now quantified current levels of land grabbing and demonstrated that it is accompanied by concerning levels of ‘water grabbing’ which could affect water supply in the ‘grabbed’ countries.

Sustainable management of phosphorus requires better information on how it flows through the environment via consumption and waste. New research from Sweden has found that 40% of phosphorus released by Gothenburg to the environment is in sewage sludge and a further 40% is in incineration ash. This suggests that phosphorus could be recycled from solid waste as well as from wastewater.

Pioneering methods used in the Netherlands combine remediation of brownfield sites with the use of groundwater for heat cold storage (HCS, or ATES: Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage) to achieve both low-cost remediation and sustainable use of energy.

Improved understanding of flash flooding could be achieved through post-flood observations, re-examination of weather radar data and the use of combined weather and hydrological modelling, according to the recent HYDRATE research project. This information can be used to improve flash flood forecasting.

The majority of respondents to a recent, large-scale European survey claim not to have prepared themselves for floods, even though they know their property is at risk of flooding and they are worried about the effects. A set of key recommendations for flood communications wrer developed from the survey’s findings, intended to improve community preparedness as part of effective flood management plans.

A study on how diet can affect water usage in the EU has concluded that a vegetarian diet is the most sustainable, but any reduction in meat consumption would be a move towards more sustainable water use.

The joint threat posed by climate change and invasive alien species can have different effects on endangered native species, new research suggests. This European study predicts that the invasive zebra mussel may benefit from climate change, negatively affecting native mussel populations; but both invasive and native crayfish could suffer declines.

Economic valuation of ecosystem services, from good quality water supplies to cooling cities in the face of climate change, can provide vital information for policy decisions. However, the definition and interpretation of ecosystem services need to be clarified to ensure accurate valuations, suggests new research.

The socio-economic costs and benefits of adaptation to river flooding caused by climate change have been assessed in a new study. According to the study, adaptation measures could save €53.1 billion every year in flood-related losses across Europe by 2080.

Investment in cycling initiatives, such as creating new cycle lanes or providing training, can increase the number of people who routinely cycle to work, a new large-scale study in the UK suggests. Town-wide cycling initiatives seemed to be particularly successful when they included workplace measures such as bike lockers, showers and cycle parking.

The number of earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater in the central and eastern US has increased significantly in recent years, from about 21 a year between 1967 and 2000, to over 300 between 2010 and 2012. Most of this increase seems to be linked to the deep injection of wastewater in underground wells, according to a recent review of seismic activity.

Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) provide important habitats for the yelkouan shearwater, a species of conservation concern, new research concludes. The study examined the behaviour of the birds at sea and found that they used MPAs extensively as foraging grounds.

A tool to calculate the risk of food and waterborne diseases under current or future climate change conditions has been presented in a recent study. Free to use, the online tool can help guide climate change adaptation, such as improvements to water management, by estimating the likelihood of contracting four diseases under a range of environmental conditions.

Climate change will substantially increase the severity and length of droughts in Europe by the end of the century, according to new research. The study showed that some European countries could experience a reduction in river flow of up to 80% by the 2080s.

Wetland biodiversity may fall under climate change, a new study suggests. The researchers' experiments indicated that, overall, plant growth in wetlands will be boosted, but a small number of plant species well suited to the warmer conditions will out compete other species. However, climate change's effects on biodiversity may be less severe if plants are able to move to cooler locations, towards the poles.

Funding for scientists, planners and inspectors should be available before any shale gas development begins, a new review recommends. As revenue for such staff is often provided by the development itself, planning, which is vital to provide immediate environmental protection as well as monitoring long-term impacts, is neglected. The researchers also advocate the use of 'adaptive management' as a decision-making framework for this complex issue.

Small, artificial wetlands can reduce river pollution by trapping soil and nutrients swept off agricultural land by rainfall, a recent study finds. The researchers recommend that they are used as a back-up option to soil management measures also designed to reduce runoff into rivers.

From rising seas to fiercer and more frequent storms, climate change effects are putting increasing pressure on coastal populations and ecosystems throughout Europe. Human activities, such as farming and land-use changes, are already in conflict with ecosystems. However, linking ecosystem services with social preferences in coastal land-use management can lead to more sustainable resource planning, finds a new study. The researchers developed guidelines for a participatory climate change adaptation process, which integrates the social effects of adaptation measures with the ecosystem services that they affect.

Human activities are threatening river ecosystems in the Mediterranean. Recent research in south-east Spain has highlighted the need to assess biodiversity and the ecological condition of river ecosystems at both basin-wide and local scales. The researchers say this will provide a better assessment of river ecosystems, aiding management decisions.

Hypoxia – low levels of dissolved oxygen – can cause genetically female fish to develop into males, new research has found. Hypoxia in aquatic environments is often the result of eutrophication, which is caused by pollution from human activities. The findings suggest that hypoxia could cause fish populations to collapse, with consequences for entire ecosystems.

Farmers in one of Europe’s most water-stressed regions would be willing to pay double the current amount for irrigation water in order to ensure a reliable supply, new research from Spain suggests. The study also shows that they appear unsupportive of new policies proposed by the researchers, such as water markets and tighter controls on groundwater pumping, which could help enable a guaranteed supply of water.

Unusually warm or cool Pacific sea surface temperatures, known as El Niño and La Niña, can be used to reliably predict anomalies in flood risk for river basins that cover 44% of the Earth’s land surface, a new study has shown. The researchers also quantified overall flood damage by combining information on flood risk with estimates of damage to economies and numbers of people at risk. This could help improve flood disaster planning, they say.

Untreated wastewater from the baker’s yeast industry can be used to irrigate crops without negatively affecting the chemical quality of the groundwater beneath, recently published research concludes. Although the wastewater increased concentrations of some groundwater contaminants in an area with a high water table, these levels would not pose a risk to human health even if this water was used for drinking.

A low cost, low energy method to disinfect water using electricity has been developed by researchers by combining carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and silver nano-wires with existing materials. The technology has the potential to be used in portable disinfection devices in developing countries.

Contamination of drinking water in areas close to several fracking sites in the Marcellus and Barnett Shales, USA, is caused by structural problems leading to wells leaking natural gas into aquifers, a new study suggests. The researchers measured trace amounts of chemicals, called noble gases, which formed signatures of the sources of gas contamination in over 130 samples. These findings suggest that, rather than coming from natural sources, such contamination in the area of the investigation is an engineering problem to do with the wells themselves, the researchers say. They stress the importance of ensuring the structural integrity of the wells, which can be done in an affordable manner.

Flood management could be improved by including socio-demographic information in the assessment of flood risk, suggests new research. The research combined traditional flood risk assessment with information on the ‘social vulnerability’ of people living in flood risk areas. The results show that there are almost twice as many people of high social vulnerability (e.g. low-income or elderly) in flood risk areas of Rotterdam as low social vulnerability people.

Water shortages in water stressed regions can be alleviated by building large infrastructures, such as water transfer systems or saltwater desalination plants, which increase the supply of water. However, a new study, which compares the environmental impact of water supply alternatives in a region of Spain, concludes that reducing water use, rather than increasing supplies, is a more sustainable solution.

Plastic pollution in the ocean is a growing problem. This study, which is the first to investigate the presence of plastic debris in large pelagic fish in the central Mediterranean Sea, found that over 18% of fish had ingested plastics.