The objective of the study was to characterise the quality of surface waters in order to de-termine their vulnerability to pollution by nitrogen compounds from agricultural activity, as well as to specify the areas with increased exposure, where nitrogen runoff from agricultural sources has to be reduced. It was necessary to determine surface waters liable to pollution by these compounds due to the fact that agricultural production should be carried out in the way which limits and prevents water pollution by nitrogen compounds of agricultural origin. The study addressed the following is-sues: the concentration of nitrogen compounds in the surface waters of the Middle Odra Basin, and the extent of eutrophication in flowing inland waters (with nitrogen as the main nutrient). The results have been plotted in figures and gathered in tables.

Wetlands play a significant role in agricultural landscape. They are the areas of exception-ally great natural values able to regulate water cycling in river catchments. In many cases they are the basic food source for bred animals.

Large areas of wetlands (c. 4 million ha) have been drained for agricultural purposes in Poland. Nevertheless, there are still numerous natural (or close to natural) wetlands, part of which is protected in nature reserves or national parks.

Having in mind the transformation of agriculture and the need of protecting water resources and natural environment, it is necessary to regulate the principles of utilisation and management of re-claimed wetlands. Water management should be adjusted to the type of an area and to environmental requirements. Regardless of the type and intensity of agricultural use of wetlands one has to aim at limiting rapid outflow of spring thaw and rainfall waters which means the reconstruction and increas-ing of natural retention capacity of the river catchment. It is necessary to provide an appropriate num-ber of water lifting facilities and their proper exploitation in land reclamation objects.

It is as well necessary to create appropriate organizational, legal and financial conditions stimu-lating actions to improve water balance and wetland protection.

The purpose of the research is to establish the total number of ponds in Ukraine and to analyse the territorial distribu-tion in the administrative areas, as well as in the river basin districts, as the main hydrographic units of water management. Cadastral data of the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine regional offices as of 2019 was used in the research (as to Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions we applied the data as of 2014). According the researches there are 50,793 ponds in Ukraine with a total water table area of 2,92899 ha and the volume of 3,969.4 mln m3 of water in 2019. The quantitative distribution of ponds across Ukraine is unequal. Most of them are concentrated in the central part of the country (10.5% of the total number of ponds in the country are in Vinnytsia region). Least of them are in Luhansk region (0.7%). Almost half of the ponds are located in the Dnieper River Basin (48.5%). The lowest quantity of ponds is in the Black Sea Basin (1.2%). The regulation of river basins districts (the rivers of the Sea of Azov, Crimea and Black Sea Basins) reaches 0.71–0.77. As of 2019, 28% of the ponds are rented out. In order to identify the real status of the ponds (both quantitative and qualitative), their recreational role, the environmental impact and the regulation of the hydrographic network in Ukraine, it is necessary to increase the attention to ponds monitoring.

The Kelani River is the second largest watershed in Sri Lanka and the main water-supply intake point for the Greater Colombo. The present study focuses to identify the sources of pollutants of the meandering zone of the Kelani River, par-ticularly due to the absence of more recent information. Accordingly, a survey was conducted to obtain information on in-dustrial discharges, anthropological, and social activities within the area of 15 m from left and right banks of the river. The high contaminations (total and faecal coliform – 1100 MPN∙(100 cm3)–1; COD – 10 mg∙dm–3; BOD – 4 mg∙dm–3) of surface and groundwater are corroborated with the results obtained via the demographic and land usage statistics. Industrial pollu-tant sources and harmful anthropological practices were identified as major threats to the river basin. In this survey, agricul-ture and land degradation were identified as issues due to improper land use management. As policy recommendations based on the results of the study, it was identified that the awareness for Kelani River protection should be increased; moni-toring and evaluation of the Kelani River basin under a management plan should be implemented; and stakeholder and pri-vate partnerships contribution to the sustainability of the Kelani River basin should be established.

Analysis of the national and regional plans shows that the current year, 2006, shall deter-mine the key lines of national and regional development practically till 2015, that means till the time when, under the Water Framework Directive, Poland should have achieved its major objectives. This year shall witness decision making not only on the key objectives, priority strategies and measures undertaken for social and economic development of the country and regions, but also allocation of the main streams of funds from the EU and public funds from national sources. This is a sort of chal-lenge for administration bodies responsible for water management, particularly in respect of pro-gramming water management tasks and their incorporation into documents which are strategic for development on national and regional level. Over 2006–2008 efforts of water management admini-stration bodies should be focused on incorporation of water management issues into the consecutive edition of the National Ecological Policy and environmental protection programmes – at regional level, to be followed by county and community levels. This paper is a part of the broad stream of methodology and pilot work on the implementation of provisions of the Water Framework Directive in Poland. The main body of the paper consists of the summary of work done for the pilot river basin of Upper Narew.

The variability of the mean annual air temperature and precipitation totals in three periods: 1848–2010, 1951–2010 and 1981–2010 was investigated in the large Warta River basin, being the area with lowest rainfall in Poland. For the purposes of research, nine meteorological stations with the longest measurement series were selected. Air temperature increase in this river basin was similar than in neighbouring countries. In the last 30 years this trend kept increasing. The precipitation in the whole studied period was slightly increasing in the northern part of the Warta River basin, but decreasing in the southern part. The mean annual precipitation totals in the catchment area did not change visible. In the period 1981–2010, the precipitation totals show a small increase in the winter and spring and a decrease in summer. A negative influence of this climate change was not visible in the Warta River discharge. The main objectives of this study were the collection long-term records of air temperature and precipitation in the Warta River basin, and the statistical analysis of climate variability.

River water pollution has been reported globally. In suggestion to adapt sustainability approach, this study carry out to tests the structural equation model between sustainable development and water resources management in the Malacca River basin (Malaysia). The model consists of six latent constructs (anthropogenic activities; law, regulation and policy; land and water ecosystem; Malacca River; river water pollution; sustainability) and twenty four items based on 400 questionnaires which were completed and returned by the local residents of Malacca state. Selected study area is within Malacca River basin. The result show the Malacca River is influenced by water law-regulation-policy (β = 0.546, p < 0.001), anthropogen-ic activities (β = 0.145, p < 0.001), river water pollution (β = 0.142, p < 0.001), land and water ecosystem (β = 0.105, p < 0.01), as well as sustainable approach (β = 0.127, p < 0.5). It was found that a sustainable approach and water law-regulation-policy have a direct influence on anthropogenic activities, river water pollution, as well as the land and water ecosystem. In conclusion, this study suggests developing an earlier approach of the model involved with water resources management and sustainable development.

Flooding in the northern part of The Netherlands has caused serious economic threats to densely populated areas. Therefore a project has been carried out in a pilot area to assess the retention of water in two river basins as a way to reduce flooding. The physically-based groundwater and sur-face water model SIMGRO was used to model the hydrology of the basins. The model was calibrated using discharges and groundwater levels. Scenarios of measures to assess the possibility of retaining water in the basin were then defined and tested. The first measure was the retention of higher dis-charges using culverts or gates in the upstream part of the basin. The second measure was to make the streams shallower and thereby, increase flood plain storage. The last measure was flood water storage in a designated area in the downstream part of one basin. The analysis indicates that holding water in the upstream parts of the basins proved to be feasible and can result in significant reductions of peak flows.

Monitoring of surface waters within the transboundary section of the Western Bug River showed, that during 2014–2018, a significant excess of the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) was observed for some substances for fish ponds. As a result of this, the water in the river for these substances was rated as “dirty” in terms of purity and correspond-ed to water quality class IV, namely: phosphorus was observed to exceed the MPC at the observation point Ambukіv vil-lage in 2015 (9.7 times), for manganese – an excess of the MPC at the observation point Ambukіv village in 2018 (9.7 times) and in point Zabuzhzhia village in 2014 (7.9 times), 2015 (8.0 times), 2017 (7.1 times), 2018 (8.3 times); for the total iron – the exceeding of MPC at the observation point Ambukіv village in 2016 (5.95 times) and 2017 (6.13 times); at the observation point Ustilug town in 2016 (5.23 times); in the observation point Zabuzhzhia village in 2016 (9.44 times) and 2017 (5.27 times). The assessment of the surface waters based on the determination of the pollution factor showed that during the study period their quality did not deteriorate but did not meet the norms. In general, surface waters of the river correspond to the second class of quality and are characterized as “poorly polluted” waters by the level of pollution.

The major impacts on aquatic ecosystems worldwide caused by land use lead to changes in their natural conditions and limitation of water use for various needs. This paper presents the results of the study of the physical and chemical parame-ters and macroinvertebrate assemblage in the White Drin River (or: the Drim River, Alb. the Drini i Bardhë River) basin, the largest in Kosovo. Macroinvertebrate sampled at 11 sites in the river resulted in 5946 collected benthic organisms, which in taxonomic terms belong to 12 orders and 51 families. Of the total number of organisms, 72.28% were Insects, 25.39% Amphipoda crustaceans and 2.33% were Annelide worms and Mollusk. The used biotic indices Biological Moni-toring Working Party (BMWP), Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT), average score per taxon (ASPT) and Stroud Water Research Center (SWRC) classify water quality in excellent category in the sampling site S1 near the source of the White Drin River, whereas in other sampling sites, as a result of pollution, water quality varies on category II–IV. The Pearson's correlation analyses shown that the physical and chemical parameters affect the water quality and the com-position of macroinvertebrates. Our results show that the parameters that adversely affect the BMWP, EPT and ASPT bio-tic indices as well as the Shannon–Wiener, Mergalef and Menhinik diversity indices are: pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total suspended solids (TSS), nitrates (NO3–) and chlorides (Cl–). We can conclude that the anthropogenic impact on White Drin basin affects the physical, chemical and biological parameters of the water therefore these parameters should be con-stantly included in Biomonitoring and Management plans for water resources in Kosovo.

This study aims to evaluate changes in the frequency and severity of historical droughts (1980–2018) and then model future droughts occurrences (2019–2099) in the Lepelle River Basin (LRB), using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) General Circulation Model (GCM) simulations for two representative concentration pathways (RCP8.5 and RCP4.5). Firstly, the present-day and future hydrology of the LRB are modelled using the weather evaluation and planning (WEAP) model. Mann–Kendall tests are conducted to identify climate trends in the LRB. The reconnaissance drought in-dex (RDI) and the streamflow drought index (SDI) are employed to explore hydro-meteorological droughts in the Lepelle River Basin, South Africa. The RDI and SDI are plotted over time to assess drought magnitude and duration. The simulated temporal evolution of RDI and SDI show a significant decrease in wetting periods and a concomitant increasing trend in the dry periods for both the lower and middle sections of the LRB under RCP4.5 as the 22nd century is approached. Lastly, the Spearman and Pearson correlation matrix is used to determine the degrees of association between the RDI and SDI drought indices. A strong positive correlation of 0.836 is computed for the middle and lower sections of the LRB under the RCP8.5 forcing. Further findings indicate that severe to extreme drought above –2.0 magnitude are expected to hit the all three sec-tions of the LRB between 2080 and 2090 under RCP8.5. In the short term, it is suggested that policy actions for drought be implemented to mitigate possible impacts on human and hydro-ecological systems in the LRB.

Trace metal composition of snowpack, snow-melt filter residues and top-soils were determined along transects through industrial towns in the Usa River Basin: Inta, Usinsk and Vorkuta. Elevated concentrations of deposition elements and pH in snow and soils associated with alkaline coal ash within 25-40 km of Vorkuta and Inta were found. Atmospheric deposition in the vicinity of Vorkuta and Inta, added significantly to the soil contaminant loading as a result of ash fallout. The element concentrations in soils within 20-30 km of Vorkuta do not reflect current deposition rates, but instead, reflect an historical pollution legacy, when coal mining activity peaked in the 1960s. There is little evidence of anthropogenic metal deposition around the gas and oil town of Usinsk.

Scarcity of freshwater is one of the major issues which hinders nourishment in large portion of the countries like Ethio-pia. The communities in the Dawe River watershed are facing acute water shortage where water harvesting is vital means of survival. The purpose of this study was to identify optimal water harvesting areas by considering socioeconomic and biophysical factors. This was performed through the integration of soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model, remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technique based on multi-criteria evaluation (MCE). The parame-ters used for the selection of optimal sites for rainwater harvesting were surface runoff, soil texture, land use land cover, slope gradient and stakeholders’ priority. Rainfall data was acquired from the neighbouring weather stations while infor-mation about the soil was attained from laboratory analysis using pipette method. Runoff depth was estimated using SWAT model. The statistical performance of the model in estimating the runoff was revealed with coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.81 and Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.76 for monthly calibration and R2 of 0.79 and NSE of 0.72 for monthly validation periods. The result implied that there's adequate runoff water to be conserved. Combination of hydrological model with GIS and RS was found to be a vital tool in estimating rainfall runoff and mapping suitable water harvest home sites.