Synthesis Report for the ERTDI-funded project: 2005-W-MS-40
Summary: STRIVE Report 59- Catherine Dalton, Eleanor Jennings, David Taylor, Barry O’Dwyer, Sarah Murnaghan, Kim Bosch, Elvira de Eyto, epa, environmental protection agency, STRIVE 59
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-funded ILLUMINATE (Past, current and future Interactions between pressures, chemicaL status and bioLogical qUality eleMents for lakes IN contrAsting catchmenTs in IrEland) project demonstrates the benefits of integrating past, current and possible future ecological conditions, and underpinning factors, within a dynamic computer modelling framework. The approach is of direct relevance to the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and therefore to River Basin District (RBD) managers and environmental regulators. Three case study catchments were selected as they were relatively rich in high-quality ecological, climatic and hydromorphological data and because they had contrasting catchment characteristics and pressures.
ILLUMINATE acts as a demonstration of the utility and potential benefits of combining computer-based modelling of catchment and associated lake ecosystem conditions and links with other data sources. Work carried out through ILLUMINATE, by developing scenarios that incorporate both land-use and climate changes and that are relevant to the management of surface waterbodies, provides a means of anticipating future aquatic pressures and their effects and of identifying lakes that are of particular risk of not meeting the WFD objectives by the end of the current implementation period (i.e. 2015). The approach adopted in ILLUMINATE is flexible, applicable to other catchments in Ireland and farther afield, and readily updatable as new technologies and data become available.
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