Aquatic Environment 1999

1. Introduction

In connection with the adoption of the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment in 1987, a monitoring programme was established to demonstrate the effects of the measures contained in the plan. The Nationwide Monitoring Programme under the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment has previously been revised in 1992. The latest revision of the monitoring programme was made in 1997-98 and resulted in the implementation of the Danish Aquatic Monitoring and Assessment Programme 1998-2003, commonly referred to as NOVA-2003.

General management of the monitoring programme is entrusted to a Programme Management Board. The members of the Committee are the Association of County Councils in Denmark, Copenhagen Municipality, the National Environmental Research Institute, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, the National Forest and Nature Agency, and the Danish EPA. The Danish EPA also holds the Chairmanship and runs the Secretariat.

1.1 What is NOVA-2003?

Danish Aquatic Mnitoring and Assessment
Programme 1998-2003

NOVA-2003 is a programme for monitoring the state of the Danish aquatic environment. The programme has been described in detail elsewhere (Danish EPA, 1999a).

The contents of NOVA-2003 are stipulated in the general programme description (Danish EPA 1999a). This is supplemented by a series of technical instructions in which all methods etc. are given together with a paradigm describing all the requirements as to data transfer and reporting.

With the implementation of NOVA-2003 in 1998, the monitoring programme has developed from one specifically directed towards demonstrating the effects of the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment to one encompassing the environmental quality of Danish groundwater and surface waters in its broadest sense. This development is primarily attributable to greater priority having been accorded to monitoring of hazardous substances and heavy metals, but also to optimization of the sampling strategy within each of the subprogrammes.

In NOVA-2003, the term hazardous substance covers both man-made and naturally occurring substances. In strict terms, the latter are not hazardous but are included in the monitoring programme because they occur in concentrations exceeding the background level. Many of the hazardous substances are characterized as hazardous because their properties (toxicity, degradability or bioaccumulation) render them dangerous to the environment. In NOVA-2003, the term heavy metals encompasses both the metals and inorganic trace elements included in the programme over and above the substances and compounds included in the monitoring of nutrients, etc.

County-state cooperation
The majority of the monitoring is carried out by the county authorities. The state activities encompass measurements at the extensive marine stations, measurement and calculation of atmospheric deposition, and the operation of 27 stream stations for measuring water flow.

Subprogrammes under NOVA-2003
During the preparation of NOVA-2003, a correlation was established between the programme's main/subsidiary objectives and the monitoring activities implemented. The programme encompasses the following sub-programmes:

	Point sources (inputs and discharges to water and soil)
	Atmospheric deposition (deposition on the sea)
	Agricultural monitoring catchments (pressures, transport and loss)
	Groundwater (state, pressures and resource balance)
	Lakes (state and pressures)
	Watercourses (state, pressures and pollutant transport)
	Marine waters (state, pressures and pollutant transport)

In order to be able to effectively document the effects of a given type of pollution and of the many plans and implemented measures it is necessary to be able to filter out the natural variation. It is therefore vital to know the natural variation in the weather and the factors involved in the water cycle - both short-term and long-term. This necessitates a good understanding of the factors involved in the water cycle and the availability of relatively long time series for the environmental variables encompassed by the aquatic environment monitoring programme.

The sampling frequencies for the many different analyses etc. included in NOVA-2003 have been planned so as to take natural variation into account to the extent necessary. In addition, many of the time series are now so comprehensive as to permit statistical analysis with a high degree of certainty.

Under NOVA-2003, emphasis is placed on the quality of the method etc. used to make the individual measurements, whether a chemical analysis or a measurement of physical or biological conditions. In connection with revision of the programme in 1997-98, it was observed that a number of hazardous substances are not yet encompassed by the laboratories' routine analyses. For this reason, a number of substances will not be encompassed by NOVA-2003 until the years 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Figure 1.1    Look here!
The nitrogen cycle (adapted from Danish EPA, 1984 and 1990).

1.2 Reporting of NOVA-2003

The reporting of NOVA-2003 has been planned with a view to:

	Determining and describing the most important anthropogenic and natural pressures.
	Describing the current state of the aquatic environment, the overall trends and the causal relationships.
	Comparing the results of the monitoring with the overall political objectives for the state of the Danish aquatic environment and for limiting the pollution. Both the county reports and the national summary reports indicate what political and administrative measures can be taken to improve the aquatic environment.

Reporting of the monitoring programme over the period 1999-2004 consists of annual standard reports, oxygen deficiency reports and four cross-cutting theme reports. Annual standard reporting is made at three levels:

1. County Technical reports
The regional reports by the county authorities encompass the following subprogrammes: agricultural monitoring catchments, groundwater, watercourses and spring brooks, lakes, point sources and marine waters. The county reports have to comprise a technical assessment of the results and wherever relevant, shall include an assessment of to what extent the regional quality objectives for the aquatic environment have been met.

Figure 1.2    Look here!
Look here!
The phosphorus cycle (adapted from Danish EPA, 1984 and 1990).

2. Nationwide Technical reports
The nationwide technical reports encompass the following subprogrammes: Agricultural monitoring catchments, groundwater, watercourses and spring brooks, lakes, point sources, marine waters and atmospheric deposition. The reports contain technical-scientific assessments of the collected information on the aquatic environment.

3. State of the Danish Aquatic Environment Report
The State of the Danish Aquatic Environment Report prepared by the National Forest and Nature Agency and the Danish EPA assesses the state of the aquatic environment and from a technical/administrative point of view assesses the results and effectiveness of the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment I and II and other measures aimed at improving the aquatic environment.

Aquatic Environment 1999 is based on the activities carried out in each of the individual subprogrammes. However, as NOVA-2003 does not comprise a complete basis for assessing discharges and environmental state, the report also makes use of information from other supervision of the aquatic environment.

Theme reports
During the programme period, the annual state-of-the-environment report will be supplemented by four independent theme reports in which the monitoring results will be evaluated across the individual subprogrammes. The following timetable has been agreed for the theme reports:
2001: The water cycle, nitrogen and phosphorus
2002: Hazardous substances, including heavy metals
2003: Biological state and developmental trends
2004: The results of 15 years of monitoring of the Danish aquatic environment.

Oxygen deficiency reports
Under NOVA-2003, regular oxygen deficiency reports are prepared during the "oxygen deficiency period" (August, September and October). The reports, which are prepared jointly by the Counties, the National Environmental Research Institute and the Danish EPA, are published as press releases and on the NOVA Internet homepage.

1.3 Where can I read more?

http://www.mst.dk/nova
Further information on NOVA-2003 can be found on the programme's Internet homepage at address http://www.mst.dk/nova. In addition to the complete description of the programme, links are provided to the institutions participating in the monitoring of the Danish aquatic environment.

Aquatic Environment 1999 provides an overall summary of the monitoring results. More detailed assessments of the data can be found in the nationwide scientific reports for the individual subprogrammes (see References).

In addition, information on the state of the aquatic environment and the general endeavours to limit pollution can be found in the Government's 1999 Environmental Policy White Paper (Ministry of Environment and Energy, 1999).

All the reports mentioned can be ordered from the respective institutions or from Miljøbutikken  see Data Sheet for address and telephone number).