Tailoring dam structures to water quality predictions in new reservoir projects: assisting decision-making using numerical modeling.

Selection of reservoir location, the floodable basin forest handling, and the design of dam structures devoted to water supply (e.g. water outlets) constitute relevant features which strongly determine water quality and frequently demand management strategies to be adopted.

Assessing the improvement of the Bilbao estuary water quality in response to pollution abatement measures.

To evaluate the success of almost 20 years of pollution abatement in the Bilbao estuary watershed in northern Spain, we analyzed temporal trends in pollution discharges and water quality from 1993 to 2003. Over that period a great portion of the raw wastewater discharge was intercepted and treated, leading to a significant reduction in the pollution load to the estuary (51.8% in biochemical oxygen demand, 70.