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Placing ecosystem services at the heart of urban water systems management

Current approaches have failed to deliver a truly integrated management of the different elements of the urban water system, such as freshwater ecosystems, drinking water treatment plants, distribution networks, sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants. Because the different parts of urban water have not been well integrated, poor decisions have been made for society in general, leading to the misuse of water resources, the degradation of freshwater ecosystems and increased overall treatment costs. Some attempts to solve environmental issues have adopted the ecosystem services concept in a more integrated approach, however this has rarely strayed far away from pure policy, and has made little impact in on-the-ground operational matters. Here, we present an improved decision-making framework to integrate the management of urban water systems. This framework uses the ecosystem service concept in a practical way to make a better use of both financial and water resources, while continuing to preserve the environment

This research was supported by the European Communities 7thFramework Programme (SANITAS ITN Project agreement 289193); as well as by the individual fellowships Ramon y Cajal (RYC-2013-14595) and Marie Curie Career Integration Fellowship (PCIG9-GA-2011-293535) to Lluís Corominas, and a José Castillejo (CAS15-00163) to Vicenç Acuña. Authors also acknowledge the support from the Economy and Knowledge Department of the Catalan Government (Consolidated Research Group 2014 SGR 291 - ICRA).

Elsevier

Author: Garcia Acosta, Xavier
Barceló i Cullerés, Damià
Comas Matas, Joaquim
Corominas Tabares, Lluís
Hadjimichael, Antonia
Page, T.J.
Acuña i Salazar, Vicenç
Abstract: Current approaches have failed to deliver a truly integrated management of the different elements of the urban water system, such as freshwater ecosystems, drinking water treatment plants, distribution networks, sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants. Because the different parts of urban water have not been well integrated, poor decisions have been made for society in general, leading to the misuse of water resources, the degradation of freshwater ecosystems and increased overall treatment costs. Some attempts to solve environmental issues have adopted the ecosystem services concept in a more integrated approach, however this has rarely strayed far away from pure policy, and has made little impact in on-the-ground operational matters. Here, we present an improved decision-making framework to integrate the management of urban water systems. This framework uses the ecosystem service concept in a practical way to make a better use of both financial and water resources, while continuing to preserve the environment
This research was supported by the European Communities 7thFramework Programme (SANITAS ITN Project agreement 289193); as well as by the individual fellowships Ramon y Cajal (RYC-2013-14595) and Marie Curie Career Integration Fellowship (PCIG9-GA-2011-293535) to Lluís Corominas, and a José Castillejo (CAS15-00163) to Vicenç Acuña. Authors also acknowledge the support from the Economy and Knowledge Department of the Catalan Government (Consolidated Research Group 2014 SGR 291 - ICRA).
Document access: http://hdl.handle.net/2072/298673
Language: eng
Publisher: Elsevier
Rights: Tots els drets reservats
Subject: Ecosistemes -- Gestió
Ecosystem management
Ecologia d’aigua dolça
Freshwater ecology
Aigües residuals -- Depuració
Sewage -- Purification
Title: Placing ecosystem services at the heart of urban water systems management
Type: info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Repository: Recercat

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