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The Opuha Dam was designed for water storage, hydropower, and to augment summer low flows. Following its commissioning in 1999, algal blooms (dominated first by Phormidium and later Didymosphenia geminata) downstream of the dam were attributed to the reduced frequency and magnitude of high-flow events. In this study, we used a 20-year monitoring dataset to quantify changes associated with the dam. We also studied the effectiveness of flushing flows to remove periphyton from the river bed. Following the completion of the dam, daily maximum flows downstream have exceeded 100 m(3) s(-1) only three times; two of these floods exceeded the pre-dam mean annual flood of 203 m(3) s(-1) (compared to 19 times >100 m(3) s(-1) and 6 times >203 m(3) s(-1) in the 8 years of record before the dam). Other changes downstream included increases in water temperature, bed armoring, frequency of algal blooms, and changes to the aquatic invertebrate community. Seven experimental flushing flows resulted in limited periphyton reductions. Flood wave attenuation, bed armoring, and a shortage of surface sand and gravel, likely limited the effectiveness of these moderate floods. Floods similar to pre-dam levels may be effective for control of periphyton downstream; however, flushing flows of that magnitude are not possible with the existing dam infrastructure. These results highlight the need for dams to be planned and built with the capacity to provide the natural range of flows for adaptive management, particularly high flows.

Increasing demand for global food production is leading to greater use of irrigation to supplement rainfall and enable more intensive use of land. Minimizing adverse impacts of this intensification on surface water and groundwater resources is of critical importance for the achievement of sustainable land use. In this paper we examine the linkages between irrigation runoff and resulting changes in quality of receiving surface waters and groundwaters in Australia and New Zealand. Case studies are used to illustrate impacts under different irrigation techniques (notably flood and sprinkler systems) and land uses, particularly where irrigation has led to intensification of land use. For flood irrigation, changes in surface water contaminant concentrations are directly influenced by the amount of runoff, and the intensity and kind of land use. Mitigation for flood irrigation is best achieved by optimizing irrigation efficiency. For sprinkler irrigation, leaching to groundwater is the main transport path for contaminants, notably nitrate. Mitigation measures for sprinkler irrigation should take into account irrigation efficiency and the proximity of intensive land uses to sensitive waters. Relating contaminant concentrations in receiving groundwaters to their dominant causes is often complicated by uncertainty about the subsurface flow paths and the possible pollutant sources, viz. drainage from irrigated land. This highlights the need for identification of the patterns and dynamics of surface and subsurface waters to identify such sources of contaminants and minimize their impacts on the receiving environments.

Mercury contamination in freshwater food webs can be severe and persistent, and freshwater fish are a major source of mercury contamination in humans. Northern hemisphere studies suggest that the primary pathway by which freshwater fish accumulate mercury is the food web, and that atmospheric deposition is the primary route by which mercury enters freshwater systems. Levels of atmospheric deposition are closely linked to proximity to sources of mercury emissions. These propositions have not been tested in the southern hemisphere. In this study, we measured mercury levels at three lakes in southern Brazil and assessed relationships between mercury in precipitation, lake water, sediment and fish tissues at sites close to (industrial and suburban areas) and distant from (protected conservation area) sources of mercury emissions. We also assessed relationships between mercury in fish species and their trophic habits. Mercury concentrations in sediment and lake water did not vary among lakes. In contrast, mercury in precipitation at the study lakes increased with proximity to industrial sources. Mercury in fish tissue generally increased along the same gradient, but also varied with trophic level and preferred depth zone. Atmospheric mercury deposition to these closed lakes may be directly linked to concentrations in fish, with surface-feeding piscivorous species attaining the highest concentrations.

The concentration of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in the porewaters of shallow-water tropical marine sediments can be as high as 50-100 µM, at sediment depths of shallow as 20 cm. These concentrations are at least two-orders of magnitude greater than the DIN concentration in the overlying water. High porewater concentrations, and the resulting concentration gradient, result in substantial efflux of DIN from the sediments to the water column. This sediment-derived DIN may be an important nutrient source for benthic algae. In Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, a mean ammonium efflux rate of 490 µmolm(-2)day(-1) and a mean nitrate+nitrite efflux rate of 123 µmolm(-2)day(-1) were measured on reef slopes in the habitat occupied by benthic algae. It has been demonstrated that this nutrient source is essential for the growth of at least one abundant alga, Dictyosphaeria cavernosa, and possibly others. The DIN concentrations in Kaneohe Bay sediment porewaters, and the rates of DIN efflux from those sediments, are greater than porewater concentrations and efflux rates reported for other, more pristine tropical sites. The rate of sedimentation of particulate nitrogen is similar to rates reported from other tropical lagoons, and about twice as high as the efflux rate of total dissolved nitrogen. Given the present low nutrient concentrations in the water column of the Bay, these results support the view that nutrient efflux from the benthos is in part responsible for the persistence of D. cavernosa on these reefs. It is possible that efflux of DIN from sediments may be responsible for sustained benthic algal productivity in similar habitats on other tropical reefs.