Impacts of the water framework directive on learning and knowledge practices in a Swedish catchment.

Catchments are complex social-ecological systems involving multiple, and often competing, interests. Water governance and management regimes are increasingly embracing pluralistic, participatory, and holistic norms as a means to engage with issues of complexity, uncertainty, and value-conflicts. Integrated, participatory approaches are theoretically linked to improved learning amongst stakeholders across sectors and decision-making that is grounded in shared knowledge, experiences and scientific evidence.

General quantification of catchment-scale nutrient and pollutant transport through the subsurface to surface and coastal waters.

This study develops a general quantification framework for consistent intermodel and intercatchment comparison of the nutrient and pollutant mass loading from multiple sources in a catchment area to downstream surface and coastal waters. The framework accounts for the wide spectrum of different transport pathways and travel times through the subsurface (soil, groundwater, sediment) and the linked surface (streams, lakes, wetlands) water systems of a catchment. The account is based on key flow partitioning and mass delivery fractions, which can be quantified differently by different flow and transport and reaction models.