Preface

Chapter 6 **Engagement of Local Heroes in Managing Flood Disaster:**

Firdaus Mat Saad and Mohammad Nazir Ahmad

**Change in Northwest Bangladesh 101**

and Chowdhury S. Jahan

**the Rhine Basin 123**

**Amu Darya River 149**

**Section 4 Water Governance 177**

**Development 179**

Felix Kwabena Donkor

**European Regions 223**

and C. Zoumides

Braun and Adrian Schmid-Breton

**Section 3 Transboundary Issues 121**

Chapter 7 **Sustainable Groundwater Management in Context of Climate**

Chapter 8 **Transboundary Cooperation and Sustainable Development in**

Chapter 9 **Monitoring of Meteorological, Hydrological Conditions and**

Chapter 10 **Information-Communication Technologies as an Integrated**

Chapter 11 **Communities at the Centre of River Basin Management for**

Chapter 12 **Strengths and Weaknesses for Climate Change: Adaptation in Water Governance: A Comparison Across Six**

Parviz I. Normatov and Inom Sh. Normatov

Amani and Blanca Elena Jiménez-Cisneros

**Malaysia 85**

**VI** Contents

**Lessons Learnt from the 2014 Flood of Kemaman, Terengganu,**

Marini Othman, Aliza Abdul Latif, Siti Sarah Maidin, Mohamad

A.T.M. Sakiur Rahman, Takahiro Hosono, Quamrul H. Mazumder

Anne Schulte-Wülwer-Leidig, Laura Gangi, Tabea Stötter, Marc

**Water Quality of the Main Tributaries of the Transboundary**

**Water Resources Management (IWRM) Tool for Sustainable**

**Sustainable Development in Northwest Cameroon 201** Henry Bikwibili Tantoh, Danny Simatele, Eromose Ebhuoma and

Charalampos Skoulikaris, Youssef Filali-Meknassi, Alice Aureli, Abou

Emmy Bergsma, H. Van Alphen, A. Bruggeman, E. Giannakis, J. Koti, E. Kristvik, P. Loza, M. Martinez, T.M. Muthanna, F. Rocha, T. Viseu

Integrated river basin management focuses on the development and management of land and water resources in a coordinated manner, with the primary aim to ensure society devel‐ opment that is well-balanced from the environmental, economic, and social points of view. Integrated river basin management includes all aspects of water resources management, i.e., the sustainability issues, such as protection of aquatic ecosystems, protection against waterrelated disasters (floods, droughts, ice, accidents involving water pollution), as well as the development activities associated with the use of water resources (inland navigation, hydro‐ power generation, agriculture, fishery, tourism, and recreation). By addressing all the ele‐ ments of land and water resources (soil, sediment, surface water, groundwater) and related ecosystems, integrated river basin management covers a wide range of disciplines (e.g., hy‐ drology, ecology, environmental management, economy), cross-cutting issues (climate change impact assessment and adaptation, data and information exchange and manage‐ ment, public participation and stakeholder involvement) and approaches (river basin man‐ agement plan preparation, water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus assessment, science-policy integration, transboundary cooperation).

This book provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of achievements and chal‐ lenges associated with the implementation of the integrated river basin management ap‐ proach through a selection of papers with global geographical relevance, as well as case studies from all over the world. The book is divided into four sections. Section 1 is focused on water quality and quantity as key inputs for river basin management, and includes two case studies on the assessment of surface water quality (Chapter 1) and groundwater (Chap‐ ter 2), and two papers dealing with hydrology of specific geographical areas (Chapter 3) and data scarce regions (Chapter 4). Section 2 elaborates various aspects of flood and drought management, such as hydrological and hydraulic modelling as a basis to evaluate the im‐ pact of flood mitigation measures on flood safety (Chapter 5), the role of local community in ensuring a better response to flood disasters (Chapter 6), and the performance of a managed aquifer recharge for sustainable management of groundwater resources in a drought prone area (Chapter 7). Transboundary issues of river basin management are elaborated on in the two chapters of Section 3, describing the transboundary water cooperation process coordi‐ nated by a river basin organization (Chapter 8), and challenges associated with the water quantity and quality monitoring in a transboundary region (Chapter 9). Section 4 deals with a range of water governance issues, including the integration of information-communication technologies in water resource management as a basis for sustainable development at global scale (Chapter 10), the contribution of local resource users and community-based organiza‐ tions to better river basin management through their involvement in decision-making proc‐ esses (Chapter 11), and a comparative analysis of the policy and governance contexts of several regions affected by different hydrological impacts of climate change (Chapter 12).

It is hoped that the diversity of topics covered in the book will contribute to a better under‐ standing of the integrated river basin management approach, and increase awareness of its complexity, associated opportunities, as well as the need for implementation of this ap‐ proach as a basis for sustainable development of river basins throughout the world.

> **Dr. Dejan Komatina** Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe Szentendre, Hungary

**Section 1**

**Water Quality and Quantity as Management**

**Inputs**

**Water Quality and Quantity as Management Inputs**

esses (Chapter 11), and a comparative analysis of the policy and governance contexts of several regions affected by different hydrological impacts of climate change (Chapter 12).

It is hoped that the diversity of topics covered in the book will contribute to a better under‐ standing of the integrated river basin management approach, and increase awareness of its complexity, associated opportunities, as well as the need for implementation of this ap‐

Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe

**Dr. Dejan Komatina**

Szentendre, Hungary

proach as a basis for sustainable development of river basins throughout the world.

VIII Preface

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**Seasonal Variation of the Physico-chemical**

**Seasonal Variation of the Physico-chemical** 

**Lawrence River**

**Abstract**

water quality in rivers.

**1. Introduction**

1,600,000 km<sup>2</sup>

Ottawa River, St. Lawrence River

**Lawrence River**

Jean-Jacques Frenette and Ali A. Assani

Jean-Jacques Frenette and Ali A. Assani

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.74122

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

**Composition of Ottawa River Waters in the St.**

**Composition of Ottawa River Waters in the St.** 

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.74122

The goal of this study is to compare the seasonal variability of 12 physicochemical characteristics of waters in the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers (SLR). Water samples were collected on board the research vessel *Lampsillis* in the spring (May), summer (August), and fall (October) of 2006 at four stations located downstream from the confluence of the two rivers. Temperature and total nitrogen values varied significantly for the three seasons. In contrast, seasonal values of light extinction coefficient and turbidity do not show any significant variation. The values of the other characteristics varied significantly only for one season. Comparison of these data with those measured in 1994–1996 reveals a net warming of the waters and a significant increase in nitrite-nitrate concentrations due to the increasing use of nitrogen-bearing fertilizers by farmers in Quebec. Concentrations of these two substances are higher than the limits set by the government of Quebec for

**Keywords:** physicochemical characteristics, seasons, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test,

The St. Lawrence River (SLR) forms a complex system composed of a mosaic of heterogeneous zones such as fluvial lakes, connecting reaches and wetlands, which interact with inflowing tributaries to produce strong longitudinal and lateral connectivity between aquatic and terrestrial environments (reviewed in [1]). The tributaries flow through a watershed covering

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

, where land use is dominated by a high degree of urbanization near Montreal

#### **Chapter 1 Provisional chapter**

#### **Seasonal Variation of the Physico-chemical Composition of Ottawa River Waters in the St. Lawrence River Seasonal Variation of the Physico-chemical Composition of Ottawa River Waters in the St. Lawrence River**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.74122

Jean-Jacques Frenette and Ali A. Assani Jean-Jacques Frenette and Ali A. Assani

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.74122

#### **Abstract**

The goal of this study is to compare the seasonal variability of 12 physicochemical characteristics of waters in the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers (SLR). Water samples were collected on board the research vessel *Lampsillis* in the spring (May), summer (August), and fall (October) of 2006 at four stations located downstream from the confluence of the two rivers. Temperature and total nitrogen values varied significantly for the three seasons. In contrast, seasonal values of light extinction coefficient and turbidity do not show any significant variation. The values of the other characteristics varied significantly only for one season. Comparison of these data with those measured in 1994–1996 reveals a net warming of the waters and a significant increase in nitrite-nitrate concentrations due to the increasing use of nitrogen-bearing fertilizers by farmers in Quebec. Concentrations of these two substances are higher than the limits set by the government of Quebec for water quality in rivers.

**Keywords:** physicochemical characteristics, seasons, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, Ottawa River, St. Lawrence River

### **1. Introduction**

The St. Lawrence River (SLR) forms a complex system composed of a mosaic of heterogeneous zones such as fluvial lakes, connecting reaches and wetlands, which interact with inflowing tributaries to produce strong longitudinal and lateral connectivity between aquatic and terrestrial environments (reviewed in [1]). The tributaries flow through a watershed covering 1,600,000 km<sup>2</sup> , where land use is dominated by a high degree of urbanization near Montreal

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

and areas of agriculture, pasture, forests, and wetland in the mid- and lower reaches of the stream system [2, 3]. Water intrusions from tributaries contribute to the formation of several parallel water masses with distinct physical and chemical properties. Among these, the Ottawa River plays a significant role in structuring the biogeochemical properties of the brown water river considering its strong discharge rate and largely human impacted watershed [4].

Many studies have analyzed the physicochemical and biological characteristics of these waters (e.g., [5–24]) and of related sediments [25–28], while other studies focused on optical characterization of these waters (e.g., [27–32]). Most of these studies analyzed the spatial variability of these characteristics in the St. Lawrence River, but very few looked at their seasonal and interannual variability. One notable exception [12] compared the interannual variability of these characteristics measured upstream and downstream from the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers from May through September, from 1994 to 1996. However, the changes in physicochemical characteristics of Ottawa River waters flowing through the St. Lawrence River were not specifically studied at the seasonal or decadal level. The main goal of this study is to analyze the seasonal variability in physical and chemical properties of the Ottawa River water mass flowing in the St. Lawrence River along 80 km further downstream from the confluence. Water characteristics were measured at four stations in the spring (May), summer (August), and fall (October) of 2006, something that has never been analyzed. The secondary goal of the study is to compare these characteristics with those measured 10 years earlier by [12].
