Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Kiel, 1976. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-182).

Nitrate contamination of water is a worldwide issue. Nitrate is especially dangerous for young children, and may result in potentially fatal blue baby syndrome when concentration in drinking water is > 10 mg/L N-NO3. Nitrate in surface water may also lead to eutrophication. Sources of NO3- contamination include nitrate fertilizers, wastewater treatment plants, individual domestic septic systems, runoff from animal feedlots, and natural soil nitrogen. Nitrate contamination in the Elbe River drainage, covering 148,270 km2 in Germany and the Czech Republic, has been a long-term issue. This study examines the upper one-third of the basin, located almost entirely in the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic, NO3- concentrations, which in some river reaches exceed the European Union (EU) standard of 50 mg/L, have decreased only slightly or remained constant since monitoring began in the 1960's. At the German border the calculated average 2000-2008 Elbe discharge is 9.4 x 109 m3/yr and annual NO3- loading is 37.4 x 106 kg/yr. The upper Elbe has four major tributaries: the Labe (Elbe), Berounka, Ohře, and Vltava whose percentages of total discharge and NO3- loading are 10.3/10.4, 28.0/33.3, 12.6/8.9, and 49.1/47.4 percent, respectively. Flow and NO3- concentrations for 138 locations were obtained from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. δ15N compositions, determined for 57 locations, were used to create a map showing the estimated spatial distribution of nitrate sources within the basin. Nitrate loading for each sample site was calculated using historical concentration and flow data for 2000-2008. Preliminary calculations suggest that ~ 76 percent of the nitrate load is from human/animal waste. Given that large feedlot operations are rare, the major source of nitrate in the region is likely small wastewater treatment plants and rural septic systems.

Charles University in Prague Pharmaceutical Faculty in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Ecology Candidate: Miloslava Ďuráčová Consultant: RNDr. Jitka Vytlačilová, Ph.D. Title of thesis: HPLC-MS determination of active biological compounds in Elbe river Biologically active compounds have a various ways to enter environment. They can occur as pesticides, cosmetics and pharmaceutics and their metabolites. Such compounds are classified as environmental contaminants. There is a increased environmental concentration connected with increasing consumption of biologically active compounds. There is a urgent need to follow the effect on the different parts of ecosystem and levels of biologically active compounds. This work was prepared during the cooperation with Povodí Labe state enterprise. A novel analytical method was described in the experimental part of this thesis. I was employed to evaluate biologically compounds levels in the surface water samples. This method is now routinely used. 10 out of 19 evaluated compounds reached concentrations higher than LOD. Acetaminophene (559 ng/l, Králický stream), gabapentine (457 ng/l Elbe, LB Schmilka), cotinine (139 ng/l, Králický potok) were the biologically active compounds with the highest found concentrations. Keywords: HPLC-MS analysis,...

During this PhD. thesis, the importance of methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) and their ecological demands were studied on the longitudinal transect along an important European river - the River Elbe. However, it was necessary to adjust methodologies for precise measurements of methane oxidation in such a variable aquatic environment. Based on laboratory experiments and field measurements, several key methodological recommendations for future planning of methane oxidation rate estimations in an unknown environment have been identified or specified. In line with the variability of the river habitats, considerable heterogeneity was also found in the obtained data on methane concentration and methanotrophical activity. Probably, some of the most important information gathered during many field sampling campaigns is that sites with the highest methane concentration usually showed a very low activity of methanotrophic bacteria (resulting in higher methane emissions). These sites are predominantly human modified sections of the river, such as locks, weirs, harbors and canals. On the contrary, the free-flowing parts of the river, modified only by groynes, showed low level of methane concentration. And so groynes could represent a more effective solution and "natural-close" habitats of navigability of rivers.

The thesis attends to cargo inland waterway transport on the river Elbe in the Czech republic. The target is to analyse its progress, function and place in national and international transport. The thesis shows actual problems that occur in inland waterway transport. The main problem is the bottleneck at the Czech - German border which should be solved by building-up of the weir in Děčín. But this is not acceptable for environmentalists. The target as well is to quote reasons why to built-up the weir which is important for the development of inland waterway transport.

<p>Management of water bodies according to their river basinsis becoming increasingly common, as the concept of IntegratedWater Resources Management (IWRM) is getting more and moreacknowl-edged. In Europe, a large portion of these“new”management units will probably be internationalor transboundary. Decisions and policies consideringtransboundary water issues need to be based on reliable andcomprehendible information. In this thesis, a review of variousexisting models that may be used for understanding the role anduse of information in (transboundary) water management ispresented. Further, the thesis reports on an assessment of theinformation management of three transboundary water regimes inEurope, namely the international water commissions for LakeNeusiedl, Lake Constance and Elbe River. Besides examining theinformation management of the regimes as such, the managementwas also related to information needs implied by the IWRMcon-cept and by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Thereviewed models and approaches were grouped into threecategories: information management models, information cyclemodels and communication between actors. The first categorycomprised models that may be used for managing and assessingdifferent types of information. The second group dealt withmodels explaining the production and communication ofinformation predominately from an information producer/senderperspective. The third group focused on ideas concerninginteractions and communication of information between differentkinds of actors. The studies on information management intransboundary water regimes showed that the information needsand strategies often were defined primarily with watercommissions’own needs in mind. The data collected by thecommissions were predominated by monitoring data, describingthe status of the environment and the impact caused by humanactivities. Furthermore, any communication of information toother groups of actors was mainly done through passivechannels. The information management in these transboundarywater regimes was not fully in accordance with informationneeds implied by the IWRM concept and the EU WFD.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM);transboundary water management; information; EU Water FrameworkDirective (WFD); regimes; policy and decision making; LakeNeusiedl; Lake Constance; Elbe River.</p>

The molluscs are very suitable model of invertebrate group for ecological and palaeoecological studies for their specific traits. In the first part of the thesis, we showed based on available fossil mollusc successions that development of the floodplain mollusc fauna took place quite different way in various river floodplains, depending on their specifics and geographical location, because especially the ones situated in the chernozem area of the Czech Republic had very different history. Detailed processing of five fossil mollusc successions in the lower Ohře River floodplain confirmed the impoverishment of recent forest malacofauna does not relate to natural processes only (chapters 3 and 10), but it arises from historical development of this area which was under permanent stress of the human settlement and agricultural utilization (chapter 1) since the coming of the Neolithic people. We made similar conclusions in case of another 11 fossil mollusc successions in the neighbouring České Středohoří Mts. (chapter 2). In the second part of the thesis (chapter 3), we investigated the ecological patterns responsible for species richness and composition of the floodplain mollusc fauna are especially the elevation and humidity gradient, and then vegetation type and its biomass, light conditions of the...

Flood polders are part of the flood risk management strategy for many lowland rivers. They are used for the controlled storage of flood water so as to lower peak discharges of large floods. Consequently, the flood hazard in adjacent and downstream river reaches is decreased in the case of flood polder utilisation. Flood polders are usually dry storage reservoirs that are typically characterised by agricultural activities or other land use of low economic and ecological vulnerability. The objective of this thesis is to analyse hydraulic, environmental and economic impacts of the utilisation of flood polders in order to draw conclusions for their management. For this purpose, hydrodynamic and water quality modelling as well as an economic vulnerability assessment are employed in two study areas on the Middle Elbe River in Germany. One study area is an existing flood polder system on the tributary Havel, which was put into operation during the Elbe flood in summer 2002. The second study area is a planned flood polder, which is currently in the early planning stages. Furthermore, numerical models of different spatial dimensionality, ranging from zero- to two-dimensional, are applied in order to evaluate their suitability for hydrodynamic and water quality simulations of flood polders in regard to performance and modelling effort. The thesis concludes with overall recommendations on the management of flood polders, including operational schemes and land use. In view of future changes in flood frequency and further increasing values of private and public assets in flood-prone areas, flood polders may be effective and flexible technical flood protection measures that contribute to a successful flood risk management for large lowland rivers. / Flutpolder werden zum gezielten Rückhalt von Wasser eingesetzt, um Spitzenabflüsse von großen Hochwassern zu senken. Dadurch wird im Falle des Flutpoldereinsatzes die Hochwassergefährdung für flussab gelegene Flussabschnitte verringert. Flutpolder sind meist trockene Staubecken, die typischerweise durch landwirtschaftliche Nutzung gekennzeichnet sind. Ziel der Dissertation ist die Analyse von hydraulischen, ökologischen und ökonomischen Auswirkungen des Einsatzes von Flutpoldern, um daraus Schlussfolgerungen für ihre Bewirtschaftung zu ziehen. Dazu werden numerische Modelle zur Simulation der Hydrodynamik und Wassergüte sowie ein landwirtschaftliches Schadenmodell gemeinsam in einem integrativen Ansatz eingesetzt. Ein Untersuchungsgebiet ist ein existierendes Flutpoldersystem am Nebenfluss Havel, welches während der Elbeflut im Sommer 2002 zum Einsatz kam. Das zweite Untersuchungsgebiet ist ein geplanter Flutpolder, welcher sich bisher noch in einem frühen Planungsstadium befindet. Darüber hinaus werden numerische Modelle verschiedener räumlicher Dimensionalität von null- bis zwei-dimensional angewandt, um ihre Eignung für hydrodynamische und Wassergütesimulationen von Flutpoldern hinsichtlich der Leistungsfähigkeit und des Modellierungsaufwands zu bewerten. Die Dissertation schließt mit übergreifenden Empfehlungen zur Bewirtschaftung von Flutpoldern einschließlich Kontrollstrategien und Landnutzung ab. Im Hinblick auf zukünftige Änderungen in der Auftretenshäufigkeit von Hochwassern und weiterhin ansteigenden Werten von privatem und öffentlichem Vermögen in überflutungsgefährdeten Gebieten stellen Flutpolder ein effektive und flexible Maßnahmen des technischen Hochwasserschutzes dar, welche zu einem erfolgreichen Hochwasserrisikomanagement großer Tieflandflüsse beitragen.

Management of water bodies according to their river basinsis becoming increasingly common, as the concept of IntegratedWater Resources Management (IWRM) is getting more and moreacknowl-edged. In Europe, a large portion of these“new”management units will probably be internationalor transboundary. Decisions and policies consideringtransboundary water issues need to be based on reliable andcomprehendible information. In this thesis, a review of variousexisting models that may be used for understanding the role anduse of information in (transboundary) water management ispresented. Further, the thesis reports on an assessment of theinformation management of three transboundary water regimes inEurope, namely the international water commissions for LakeNeusiedl, Lake Constance and Elbe River. Besides examining theinformation management of the regimes as such, the managementwas also related to information needs implied by the IWRMcon-cept and by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Thereviewed models and approaches were grouped into threecategories: information management models, information cyclemodels and communication between actors. The first categorycomprised models that may be used for managing and assessingdifferent types of information. The second group dealt withmodels explaining the production and communication ofinformation predominately from an information producer/senderperspective. The third group focused on ideas concerninginteractions and communication of information between differentkinds of actors. The studies on information management intransboundary water regimes showed that the information needsand strategies often were defined primarily with watercommissions’own needs in mind. The data collected by thecommissions were predominated by monitoring data, describingthe status of the environment and the impact caused by humanactivities. Furthermore, any communication of information toother groups of actors was mainly done through passivechannels. The information management in these transboundarywater regimes was not fully in accordance with informationneeds implied by the IWRM concept and the EU WFD. <b>Keywords:</b>Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM);transboundary water management; information; EU Water FrameworkDirective (WFD); regimes; policy and decision making; LakeNeusiedl; Lake Constance; Elbe River. / NR 20140805

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