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A statistical analysis of water quality data collected on paired agricultural watersheds was undertaken. The objective of the study was to evaluate trends in water quality. The data sets that were used to determine the changes in water quality were taken from the project "Gestion de leau dans le bassin versant de la partie superieure du ruisseau St. Esprit". For the period from 1994 to 1996, the analysed water quality parameter were nitrate, phosphate, ammonium, potassium, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total phosphorus and suspended sediment. / The data sets were analysed using descriptive statistics, graphical techniques and non-parametric methods to detect trends in the measured water quality parameters. The statistical analyses were undertaken to determine the effects of soil conservation practices and fertiliser management and to compare different sampling strategies. / The analyses showed that there were no detectable changes in water quality over the 3-year period related to the conservation practices. The lack of improvement in water quality might be due to the slow rate of adoption of conservation practices and to climatic variations. / For the non-parametric methods applied, it was possible to show that climatic variations on small watershed affect the results over a short time period (<5 years). The phosphate concentration on the control showed a significant upward trend. The nitrate concentration on St. Esprit showed an upward trend over the 3-year period and then downward trend after a 4-year period of water quality data. This was likely due to the implementation of best management practices. / The statistical analyses showed that weekly sampling on fixed schedule produce the same results as automated sampling based upon flow rate related to a defined discharge. This shows that the more complex and expensive flow weighted sampling scheme is not required to detect trends in water quality.

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This study was a comprehensive appraisal of the operators in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants and municipal water purification plants in a six county area of east central Indiana. The evaluation instrument asked for ninety-eight separate items of information pertaining to: Personal Data, Working Conditions and Responsibilities, and Operators' Opinions of Conditions Affecting the Water Treatment Industry.

The Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC) is an innovative piece of legislation aimed at harmonizing Water Policy among the 27 Member States. This Directive, the reading of which may appear quasi-revolutionary due to its territorial and material scope, is a new policy instrument with, as of yet, still ongoing implementation. The final deadline for the complete implementation of the Water Framework Directive is 2015, when the good ecological status of the water bodies in the European Union should have been achieved. The purpose of this study is to analyze the development of the implementation on three essential aspects of the Directive: the transposition, the creation of the administrative authorities, and the public participation in the elaboration of the River Basin Management Plans. My thesis has two main research questions: 1) Have France and Spain implemented the WFD correctly? 2) Does the pervasive theory of the Mediterranean Syndrome apply to my study cases? In order to answer the first question, I use the scoreboard method to assess of the correctness of implementation of the three essential aspects of the Directive mentioned above, complemented by an examination of the domestic dynamics that shaped the implementation categorized into different modes of governance. To address the second question the two case studies I have chosen will test the doctrine of the northern leaders and southern laggards as based on institutional culture. The doctrine of the Southern Laggards (also known as the Mediterranean Syndrome doctrine) advocates that the Southern/Mediterranean states are doomed to fail implementing EU environmental policy. In my thesis, I address this doctrine by using a practical case study: the comparison of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive between France and Spain. The essence of these arguments is rooted in the mainstream doctrine of the goodness of fit. That is, a Directive is more likely to be correctly implemented where there is a matching institutional framework. In order to use this theory as a departure point to examine the hypothesis of likeliness of correct implementation of the WFD by France and Spain, I selected three main institutional features that are hallmarks in France and Spain and also practically opposed: political centralization versus decentralization, democracy and participation versus totalitarianism, and the status of economic development of each EU Member. I use them as indicators to determine the degree of fit of France and Spain´s institutional frameworks with the purpose, the policy style and the institutions required by the WFD. I conclude with highlighting the importance of this study for the contribution that it may make to two contemporary issues: the current Eastern/Western divide in the EU (can the doctrine of the Northern/Southern states usefully be extrapolated to the Western/Eastern Members?) and the thorny economic situation of the EU today. At the time of finishing writing this thesis, all the fingers point to Greece, immersed in a striking public debt that has shaken the rest of the Mediterranean countries: is the Mediterranean Syndrome attacking again? / Graduate