Environmental risk assessment focused on water quality in the Laborec River watershed

Environmental risk assessment could be a valuable tool for water management since it can simulate the potential response of the aquatic system to changes such as the addition of organic pollution, an increase in nutrient levels or water abstraction rates and changes in sewage treatment operations. The negative effects of human activity on water quality are manifested both by the contamination of resources and by violation of the natural conditions of water circulation. This study aims to determine the relationships between anthropogenic activities, stressors and adverse effects based on previously acquired knowledge about the state of water quality in the Laborec River and the sources of pollution in the river basin. The exposure profile, developed within this research, is the output of an analysis of environmental risks in the studied river basin and is focused on an evaluation of the surface water quality in the Laborec River. The results from the evaluation are following: risk is characterized as acceptable in the upper section of the Laborec basin; it can be characterized as moderate to undesirable in the middle part of the river basin; and the risk is unacceptable in the lower part of the river basin, mainly due to industry. This results can identify the priority areas where measures for decreasing of the water pollution have to be done. (c) 2021 European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Environmental risk assessment can simulate the potential response of aquatic systems to pollution and other changes. This study focuses on the impact of human activities on water quality in the Laborec River basin, with results showing varying levels of risk in different areas, helping to identify priority measures for reducing water pollution.