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Controlling lake eutrophication is a challenge. A case-specific diagnostics driven approach is recommended that will guide to a suite of measures most promising in restoration of eutrophic lakes as exemplified by the case of the shallow lake Groote Melanen, The Netherlands. A lake system analysis identified external and internal nutrient load as main reasons for poor water quality and reoccurring cyanobacterial blooms in the lake. Based on this analysis, a package of restoration measures was implemented between January 2015 and May 2016. These measures included fish removal, dredging, capping of peat rich sediment with sand and an active barrier (lanthanum-modified bentonite), diversion of two inlet streams, reconstruction of banks, and planting macrophytes. Dredging and sand capping caused temporarily elevated turbidity and suspended solids concentrations, while addition of the lanthanum-modified clay caused a temporary exceedance of the Dutch La standard for freshwaters. Diversion of inflow streams caused 35 % less water inflow and larger water level fluctuations, but the lake remained water transporting with strongly improved water quality as was revealed by comparing five years pre-intervention water quality data with five years' post-intervention data. Total phosphorus concentration in the water column was reduced by 93 % from 0.47 mg P l -1 before the intervention to 0.03 mg P l -1 after the intervention, total nitrogen by 66 % from 1.27 to 0.21 mg N l -1 , total chlorophyll-a by 75 % from 68 to 16 µg l -1 , cyanobacteria chlorophyll-a by 88 % from 32 to 4 µg l -1 . Turbidity had declined by 58 % from 23.5 FTU to on average 9.9 FTU. No cyanobacteria blooms were recorded over the entire post-intervention monitoring period (2016-2021). Submerged macrophytes increased from complete absence before intervention to around 10 %-15 % coverage after intervention. Repeated fish removal lowered the fish stock to below 100 kg ha -1 with 12 % of bream and carp remaining. Hence, the package of cohesive measures that was based on a thorough diagnosis resulted in rapidly, strongly and enduringly improved water quality. This case provides evidence for the power of combining measures in restoring eutrophic lakes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Aquatic ecosystems are large contributors to global methane (CH4) emissions. Eutrophication significantly enhances CH4-production as it stimulates methanogenesis. Mitigation measures aimed at reducing eutrophication, such as the addition of metal salts to immobilize phosphate (PO43-), are now common practice. However, the effects of such remedies on methanogenic and methanotrophic communities-and therefore on CH4-cycling-remain largely unexplored. Here, we demonstrate that Fe(II)Cl2 addition, used as PO43- binder, differentially affected microbial CH4 cycling-processes in field experiments and batch incubations. In the field experiments, carried out in enclosures in a eutrophic pond, Fe(II)Cl2 application lowered in-situ CH4 emissions by lowering net CH4-production, while sediment aerobic CH4-oxidation rates-as found in batch incubations of sediment from the enclosures-did not differ from control. In Fe(II)Cl2-treated sediments, a decrease in net CH4-production rates could be attributed to the stimulation of iron-dependent anaerobic CH4-oxidation (Fe-AOM). In batch incubations, anaerobic CH4-oxidation and Fe(II)-production started immediately after CH4 addition, indicating Fe-AOM, likely enabled by favorable indigenous iron cycling conditions and the present methanotroph community in the pond sediment. 16S rRNA sequencing data confirmed the presence of anaerobic CH4-oxidizing archaea and both iron-reducing and iron-oxidizing bacteria in the tested sediments. Thus, besides combatting eutrophication, Fe(II)Cl2 application can mitigate CH4 emissions by reducing microbial net CH4-production and stimulating Fe-AOM., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS.)

The eutrophic Bouvigne pond (Breda, The Netherlands) regularly suffers from cyanobacterial blooms. To improve the water quality, the external nutrient loading and the nutrient release from the pond sediment have to be reduced. An enclosure experiment was performed in the pond between March 9 and July 29, 2020 to compare the efficiency of dredging, addition of the lanthanum-modified bentonite clay Phoslock® (LMB), the aluminum-modified zeolite Aqual-P™ (AMZ) and FeCl 2 to mitigate nutrient release from the sediment. The treatments improved water quality. Mean total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in water were 0.091, 0.058, 0.032, 0.031, and 0.030 mg P L -1 in controls, dredged, FeCl 2 , LMB and AMZ treated enclosures, respectively. Mean filterable P (FP) concentrations were 0.056, 0.010, 0.009, 0.005, and 0.005 mg P L -1 in controls, dredged, FeCl 2 , LMB and AMZ treatments, respectively. Total nitrogen (TN) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) were similar among treatments; lanthanum was elevated in LMB treatments, Fe and Cl in FeCl 2 treatments, and Al and Cl in AMZ treatments. After 112 days, sediment was collected from each enclosure, and subsequent sequential P extraction revealed that the mobile P pool in the sediments had reduced by 71.4%, 60.2%, 38%, and 5.2% in dredged, AMZ, LMB, and FeCl 2 treatments compared to the controls. A sediment core incubation laboratory experiment done simultaneously with the enclosure experiment revealed that FP fluxes were positive in controls and cores from the dredged area, while negative in LMB, AMZ and FeCl 2 treated cores. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) release rate in LMB treated cores was 3.6 times higher than in controls. Overall, the applied in-lake treatments improved water quality in the enclosures. Based on this study, from effectiveness, application, stakeholders engagement, costs and environmental safety, LMB treatment would be the preferred option to reduce the internal nutrient loading of the Bouvigne pond, but additional arguments also have to be considered when preparing a restoration., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Harmful algal blooms are symptomatic of eutrophication and lead to deterioration of water quality and ecosystem services. Extreme climatic events could enhance eutrophication resulting in more severe nuisance algal blooms, while they also may hamper current restoration efforts aimed to reduce nutrient loads. Evaluation of restoration measures on their efficacy under climate change is essential for effective water management. We conducted a two-month mesocosm experiment in a hypertrophic urban canal focussing on the reduction of sediment phosphorus (P)-release. We tested the efficacy of four interventions, measuring phytoplankton biomass, nutrients in water and sediment. The measures included sediment dredging, water column aeration and application of P-sorbents (lanthanum-modified bentonite - Phoslock® and iron-lime sludge, a by-product from drinking water production). An extreme heatwave (with the highest daily maximum air temperature up to 40.7 °C) was recorded in the middle of our experiment. This extreme heatwave was used for the evaluation of heatwave-induced impacts. Dredging and lanthanum modified bentonite exhibited the largest efficacy in reducing phytoplankton and cyanobacteria biomass and improving water clarity, followed by iron-lime sludge, whereas aeration did not show an effect. The heatwave negatively impacted all four measures, with increased nutrient releases and consequently increased phytoplankton biomass and decreased water clarity compared to the pre-heatwave phase. We propose a conceptual model suggesting that the heatwave locks nutrients within the biological P loop, which is the exchange between labile P and organic P, while the P fraction in the chemical P loop will be decreased. As a consequence, the efficacy of chemical agents targeting P-reduction by chemical binding will be hampered by heatwaves. Our study indicates that current restoration measures might be challenged in a future with more frequent and intense heatwaves., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The combination of a low-dose coagulant (polyaluminium chloride-'Floc') and a ballast able to bind phosphate (lanthanum modified bentonite, LMB-'Sink/Lock') have been used successfully to manage cyanobacterial blooms and eutrophication. In a recent 'Floc and Lock' intervention in Lake de Kuil (the Netherlands), cyanobacterial chlorophyll- a was reduced by 90% but, surprisingly, after one week elevated cyanobacterial concentrations were observed again that faded away during following weeks. Hence, to better understand why and how to avoid an increase in cyanobacterial concentration, experiments with collected cyanobacteria from Lakes De Kuil and Rauwbraken were performed. We showed that the Planktothrix rubescens from Lake de Kuil could initially be precipitated using a coagulant and ballast but, after one day, most of the filaments resurfaced again, even using a higher ballast dose. By contrast, the P. rubescens from Lake Rauwbraken remained precipitated after the Floc and Sink/Lock treatment. We highlight the need to test selected measures for each lake as the same technique with similar species ( P. rubescens ) yielded different results. Moreover, we show that damaging the cells first with hydrogen peroxide before adding the coagulant and ballast (a 'Kill, Floc and Lock/Sink' approach) could be promising to keep P. rubescens precipitated.

Lanthanum Modified Bentonite (LMB; Phoslock®) is used to mitigate eutrophication by binding phosphate released from sediments. This study investigated the fate of lanthanum (La) from LMB in water, sediment, macrophytes, and chironomid larvae in Lake Rauwbraken (The Netherlands). Before the LMB application, water column filterable La (FLa) was 0.02 µg L -1 , total La (TLa) was 0.22 µg L -1 . In sediment the total La ranged 0.03-1.86 g m -2 . The day after the application the maximum FLa concentration in the water column was 44 µg L -1 , TLa was 528 µg L -1 , exceeding the Dutch Maximum Permissible Concentrations (MPC) of 10.1 µg L -1 by three to fourfold. TLa declined below the MPC after 15 days, FLa after 75 days. After ten years, FLa was 0.4 µg L -1 and TLa was 0.7 µg L -1 . Over the post-application years, FLa and TLa showed statistically significant downward trends. While the LMB settled homogeneously on sediment, after 3 years it redistributed to 0.2-5.4 g La m -2 within shallow zones, and 30.7 g m -2 to 40.0 g La m -2 in deeper zones. In the upper 20 cm of sediment, La concentrations were 7-6702 mg kg -1 dry weight (DW) compared to 0.5-7.0 mg kg -1 before application. Pre-application anaerobic sediment release of FLa was 0.006 mg m -2 day -1 . Three months after the application it was 1.02 mg m -2 day -1 . Three years later it was 0.063 mg m -2 day -1 . Before application La in plants was 0.8-5.1 mg La kg -1 DW, post-application values were up to 2925 mg La kg -1 DW. In chironomid larvae, La increased from 1.7 µg g -1 DW before application to 1421 µg g -1 DW after one month, 3 years later it was 277 µg g -1 DW. Filtration experiments indicate FLa is not truly dissolved free La 3+ cations., (Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Recent technological developments have increased the number of variables being monitored in lakes and reservoirs using automatic high frequency monitoring (AHFM). However, design of AHFM systems and posterior data handling and interpretation are currently being developed on a site-by-site and issue-by-issue basis with minimal standardization of protocols or knowledge sharing. As a result, many deployments become short-lived or underutilized, and many new scientific developments that are potentially useful for water management and environmental legislation remain underexplored. This Critical Review bridges scientific uses of AHFM with their applications by providing an overview of the current AHFM capabilities, together with examples of successful applications. We review the use of AHFM for maximizing the provision of ecosystem services supplied by lakes and reservoirs (consumptive and non consumptive uses, food production, and recreation), and for reporting lake status in the EU Water Framework Directive. We also highlight critical issues to enhance the application of AHFM, and suggest the establishment of appropriate networks to facilitate knowledge sharing and technological transfer between potential users. Finally, we give advice on how modern sensor technology can successfully be applied on a larger scale to the management of lakes and reservoirs and maximize the ecosystem services they provide.

Many urban ponds experience detrimental algal blooms as the result of eutrophication. During a two year field experiment, the efficacy of five in situ treatments to mitigate eutrophication effects in urban ponds was studied. The treatments targeted the sediment phosphorus release and were intended to switch the ponds from a turbid phytoplankton-dominated state to a clear-water state with a low phytoplankton biomass. Two eutrophic urban ponds were each divided into six compartments (300-400 m(2); 210-700 m(3)). In each pond the following treatments were tested: dredging in combination with biomanipulation (involving fish biomass control and the introduction of macrophytes) with and without the addition of the flocculant polyaluminiumchloride, interception and reduction of sediment phosphorus release with lanthanum-modified bentonite (Phoslock(®)) in combination with biomanipulation with and without polyaluminiumchloride; biomanipulation alone; and a control. Trial results support the hypothesis that the combination of biomanipulation and measures targeting the sediment phosphorus release can be effective in reducing the phytoplankton biomass and establishing and maintaining a clear-water state, provided the external phosphorus loading is limited. During the experimental period dredging combined with biomanipulation showed mean chlorophyll-a concentrations of 5.3 and 6.2 μg L(-1), compared to 268.9 and 52.4 μg L(-1) in the control compartments. Lanthanum-modified bentonite can be an effective alternative to dredging and in combination with biomanipulation it showed mean chlorophyll-a concentrations of 5.9 and 7.6 μg L(-1). Biomanipulation alone did not establish a clear-water state or only during a limited period. As the two experimental sites differed in their reaction to the treatments, it is important to choose the most promising treatment depending on site specific characteristics. In recovering the water quality status of urban ponds, continuing attention is required to the concurrent reduction of external phosphorus loading and to maintaining an appropriate fish community., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Eutrophication of Lake De Kuil (The Netherlands, 6.7 ha, maximum depth 9 m) has frequently caused cyanobacterial blooms resulting in swimming bans or the issue of water quality warnings during summer. The eutrophication was mainly driven by sediment phosphorus (P)-release. The external P-loading was in the range of the critical loading for phytoplankton blooms. Hence, the reduction of the internal P-loading provided a promising way to reduce cyanobacterial blooms. To mitigate the cyanobacterial blooms, the combination of a low dose flocculant (iron(III)chloride; Flock) and a solid phase phosphate fixative (lanthanum modified bentonite; Lock) was applied in May 2009. This combined approach both removed cyanobacterial biomass from the water column and also intercepted P released from the bottom sediments. Immediately after treatment, the Secchi depth increased from 1.5 m up to 5 m. Sediment P-release decreased from 5.2 mg P m(-2) d(-1) (2009) to 0.4 mg P m(-2) d(-1) (2010) but increased in later years. Mean summer concentrations of total P decreased from 0.05 mg L(-1) (1992-2008) to 0.02 mg L(-1) (2009-2014) and chlorophyll-a from 16 μg L(-1) (1992-2008) to 6 μg L(-1) (2009-2014). Mean summer Secchi depth increased from 2.31 m (1992-2008) to 3.12 m (2009-2014). The coverage of macrophytes tripled from 2009 to 2011. In the winter of 2010/2011 Planktothrix rubescens bloomed, but cyanobacterial biomass decreased during the summers after the Flock and Lock treatment in comparison to prior years. After the Flock & Lock the bathing water requirements have been fulfilled for six consecutive summers. As the sediment P-release has gradually increased in recent years, there is a risk of a reversion from the present mesotrophic state to a eutrophic state., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The lanthanum (La) modified bentonite Phoslock(®) has been proposed as dephosphatisation technique aiming at removing Filterable Reactive Phosphorus (FRP) from the water and blocking the release of FRP from the sediment. In the modified clay La is expected the active ingredient. We conducted controlled laboratory experiments to measure the FRP removal by Phoslock(®) in the presence and absence of humic substances, as La complexation with humic substances might lower the effectiveness of La (Phoslock(®)) to bind FRP. The results of our study support the hypothesis that the presence of humic substances can interfere with the FRP removal by the La-modified bentonite. Both a short-term (1 d) and long-term (42 d) experiment were in agreement with predictions derived from chemical equilibrium modelling and showed lower FRP removal in presence of humic substances. This implies that in DOC-rich inland waters the applicability of exclusively Phoslock(®) as FRP binder should be met critically. In addition, we observed a strong increase of filterable La in presence of humic substances reaching in a week more than 270 μg La l(-1) that would infer a violation of the Dutch La standard for surface water, which is 10.1 μg La l(-1). Hence, humic substances are an important factor that should be given attention when considering chemical FRP inactivation as they might play a substantial role in lowering the efficacy of metal-based FRP-sorbents, which makes measurements of humic substances (DOC) as well as controlled experiments vital., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)