Eutrophication Monitoring in Cullera Bay, Spanish Mediterranean Coast

C. Msso*, J. P. Sierra*, I. Romero**, S. Falco**, L. Cupul*, M, Mestres**, Z. Hermosilla**, J. Gonzlez del Ro** and A. Snchez-Arcilla*
*Maritime Engineering Laboratory; Catalonia University of Technology; Jordi Girona 1-3; Edifici D1 Campus Nord UPC; 08034 Barcelona (Spain). cesar.mosso@upc.edu **Environmental Impact Assessment Group; Universidad Politcnica de Valencia; Camino de Vera s/n; 46022 Valencia (Spain). inrogi@dihma.upv.es Abstract Estuarine and coastal waters are often used for the disposal of industrial, agricultural and urban effluents that contain certain amounts of various nutrients and pollutants that can accumulate over time, leading to an environmental degradation of the receiving water body. This is the case of Cullera Bay, where the coastal water body has suffered an important ecological and environmental degradation. Cullera Bay is a shallow coastal basin, limited on the northern side by Cullera Cape (a rocky mass that protrudes into the sea) whereas the southern part of the bay (where the Jcar River and the marine outfall discharge) is open. In order to assess the water quality degradation, 9 field campaigns were carried out, sampling water at several stations covering all the Bay (including the last stretch of the Jcar River ) and measuring the wind and current field. The results show that the eutrophication and water quality degradation observed in Cullera Bay are due, on the one hand, to the nutrient and pollutant loads coming from the last stretch of the Jcar River and Culleras marine outfall (that discharges close to the river mouth) and, on the other hand to the geo-morphologic features of the Bay. Keywords Eutrophication, Field Campaigns, Monitoring, Sustainable Development, Water Quality.

Introduction
Almost 70% of the worlds population resides in or near coastal and estuarine areas, which means that almost all human activities have the potential to affect coastal water quality. Coastal waters support valuable coastal ecosystems that are of major ecological and economic importance and include a wide range of habitats with a rich and unique biodiversity. They enhance activities such as human settlement, recreation and tourism, the establishment of reserves and parks, fishing, and agriculture. The growth of the population along the Spanish Mediterranean coast in recent years has increased the pressure on these fragile ecosystems. The input of nutrients and pollutants of continental origin tends to be the determining factor of the trophic state of the ecosystem in coastal environments. However, the ever-growing use of chemicals in different anthropogenic activities has led to an increase of direct nutrient dumping into coastal waters which, in many cases has become quantitatively more important than fluvial inputs (Prs, 1980). Although both the continental contributions a nd the urban waste-water spills into coastal waters have a strong

IWA Publishing 2006. Published by IWA Publishing, London, UK.

C. Msso et al.

seasonal variation, the continued input of nutrients and pollutants in coastal shallow waters may lead to seasonal algae blooms and plankton proliferations, specially in spring. The plankton growth and the consequent absorption of nutrients , may lead a decrease of nutrient concentration levels in the euphotic layer, occasionally reaching nutrient exhaustion by the beginning of summer. The contributions of diverse substances have affected the marine littoral and, in some cases, entire systems in confined marine areas (Le Pape et al., 1996). The influence of these continental contributions is especially significant in the marine oligotrophic areas (Bethoux et al., 1992; Riegman et al., 1992; Sierra et al., 2002), specially the Mediterranean Sea (Fuentes, 1999; Moutin et al., 1998; Romero, 2004). In view of this continuing trend, the protection of the marine environment will be critical in maintaining and enhancing its productivity. If coastal water quality deteriorates, up to 80% to 90% of fisheries can be lost, while the annual income from tourism (which is the main Spanish industry) may be reduced as a consequence of non-adequate water policies. Water quality is one of the top-ranked environmental concerns to the European Union. F rom a sustainable economic development perspective, in places where most of the socio-economic activities depend on the coastal systems good state of health (specially in the Mediterranean Countries), the water quality monitoring has become an essential task to ensure and mantain the ecosystem integrity, allowing the design of effective policy interventions for a more sustainable development of these areas. Therefore, there is an obvious need of basic research to identify sources, transport and fate of nutrients, pollutants and bacteria entering coastal waters (e.g. through marine outfalls), applied research to determine best management practices, and communication of science and science-based management to general public.

Material and Methods

Geographical situation and problem background of the study area Cullera bay is located on the Spanish Mediterranean Coast (0 13 to 0 15 W and 39 08 to 39 12 N), approximately 32 km south from the city of Valencia. The coastal landscape of Cullera is characterized by an important orographic feature (Monte el Oro) north of the Jcar River, while the southern part is quite flat (and used mainly for agriculture). Cullera bay is a semi -enclosed water body, limited to the north by Cullera Cape, which is a rocky mass that protrudes into the sea, whereas the southern end of the bay, where the Jcar river meets the sea, is open (figure 1). The Jcar River presents a strong seasonal behaviour, with almost negligible flows (0-4 m3 /s) during late spring and summer, increasing it up to a factor of four (maximum mean flow of 12-16 m3 /s) during winter. Cullera bay often presents nutrient-related problems due to the discharge within it of the highly nutrient-rich (coming from the agriculture crops drainage) freshwater from the Jcar River and the presence of a shallow marine outfall that disposes of the local (occasionally untreated) urban wastewater. The combined effect of the freshwater discharge and the discharge from the marine outfall, together with the shallowness of the waterbody that allows the release into the watercolumn of benthonic nutrients, causes important environmental problems related to the quality of the bays waters. The frequent dense blooms of phytoplankton and red algae (figure 2) are only some of the many typical features of highly eutrophised coastal ecosystems observed in Cullera (Msso et al., 2002) over the past years. At summertime, these negative effects are enhanced by the prevailing direction of the local wind, which blows from the SE during the day, pushing the river and outfall plumes towards the coast (Mestres et al., 2004).

Eutrophication Monitoring in Cullera Bay, Spanish Mediterranean Coast

4341500
Cullera Cape

P1 M7 P2 P3 P6 P5 P4 M8 M9 M6

4340500

P7 P8

4339500 Lat it ude [utm] P9 4338500

Jcar River

M12 P10 R2

M4 M10 M11 M5

4337500

Meteo P11 Station

Marine Outfall

4336500 M13 M1
CM 7m

M2
CM 10m

4335500 737000

738000

739000

740000

741000

Longitude [utm]

Figure 1 a, b Cullera Bay, featuring Cullera Cape (north) and the Jcar River (south) surrounded by the agricultural crops ; Location of the meteorological station, the Jcar river mouth, the marine outfall, the currentmeters moored at 7 and 10 m depth and the sampling stations.

Figure 2 Red algae bloom in Cullera Bay.

Field Campaigns Nine field campaigns were carried out throughout a one-year period (3 in summer, and 2 during the other seasons) to characterise the physical and bio-geochemical state of the estuary and bay (see table 1), during which five different types of measurements were done: CTD profiles: Salinity, temperature, water depth, pH, redox potential and dissolved oxygen (DO) at different sampling stations using a Seabird 25 CTD and a Hydrolab Surveyor 3 multi-parametric probe. Water samples: The experimental procedure included near-surface water sampling at 13 sea stations, 11 shore stations and 2 fluvial stations. The parameters analysed in the laboratory include salinity, chloride, suspended solids, chlorophyll a , ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, soluble reactive phosphorous (SRP), total dissolved phosphorous (TDP), total phosphorous (TP) and silicate. In some samples, also biological oxygen demand (BOD) and bacterial pathogens (total and faecal coliforms and faecal streptococcus). Sediment samples: Analysed for sediment oxygen demand (SOD), organic matter, total nitrogen (TN) and TP.

C. Msso et al.

Currentmeters: Hydrodynamic currents were measured at two locations (stations CM7 and CM10 in figure 1b). The data was used as boundary conditions for the numerical models (Mestres et al., JCR Brasil). Wind characteristics: wind speed and direction measured close to the river mouth. Meteorological forcing is the main driving agent for the local hydrodynamics. All the samples were collected in 2-litre plastic bottles and kept at 4C until their arrival at the laboratory (always within 12 hours from the sampling time). Once in the laboratory, the water samples were analysed using different methods. For the analysis of nutrients (ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, RSP, TDP, TP and orthosilicic acid) an Alliance Instruments Evolution II continuous flow segmented by air auto-analyzer was used, as well as the methodology described by Treguer and Le Corre (1975), considering the remarks by Parsons et al., (1984) and Kirkwood et al., (1991).
Table 1 Field campaigns

Field Campaign Ecosud 1 Ecosud 2 Ecosud 3 Ecosud 4 Ecosud 5 Ecosud 6 Ecosud 7 Ecosud 8 Ecosud 9

Dates 20-25 June - 2002 9 de July - 2002 24-27 July - 2002 05-06 August - 2002 04-05 September - 2002 20-21 November - 2002 08-09 February - 2003 23-24 April - 2003 22-23 July - 2003

Results and discussion

Wind and Current Field In order to monitor the eutrophication in Cullera Bay, it is important to characterize the water constituent transport drivers ( mainly wind and currents) and the constituent sources and sinks. The overall wind field measurements, despite showing a significant seasonal behaviour, have a strong daily breeze pattern. Most of the measurements were land-coming (from W, WNW, NW and WSW). The complementary wind was sea-coming (which blew with higher velocities) mainly from the ESE, E, SE and ENE. The remainding directions (but with a negligible contribution) were NE, N, NNE, SW, SSW and S. The overall analyses of the hydrodynamic field show that the main velocity components of the currents at CM7 have a strong NNW S path, with minor contributions to the N, SSW, NNE and NW directions (figure 3a). On the other hand, the main velocity components of the currents at CM10 are N S, with minor contributions to the NNW, NNE and SSW directions (figure 3b). Salinity The salinity distribution is a very useful indicative of the spatial pattern of some nutrients (nitrite, nitrate, orthosilicic acid and total phosphorous) since they have an inverse behaviour (continental contributions have less salinity values and larger nutrient concentrations than the sea water). The vertical profiles of salinity within Cullera bay show that the contribution of

Eutrophication Monitoring in Cullera Bay, Spanish Mediterranean Coast

continental waters, due to the low river momentum, is confined to the vicinities of the river mouth, which shows a clear limitation of the plume size (figure 4 a). In fact, the smallest salinity values are observed at P11 (southward of the river mouth), due to the jetties length asymmetry, being the southern one shorter (see figure 1a, b). Salinity in the surface layer of the water column increases with the distance to the shore, where the most significant salinity gradients are observed in the first meter of the water column . Analyzing the overall spatial salinity distribution, it is possible to distinguish three clearly differentiated areas. The first one is close to the river mouth and marine outfall, where the surface salinity gradients are more evident, with values ranging from 35 close to the river mouth, up to 37 in approximately 2.3 km, evidencing the continental influence. This zone presents the higher standard deviations of the salinity values obtained during the field measurements. The second zone, close to Cullera Cape, showed sporadic low salinity values, which are likely due to punctual freshwater contributions, probably from illegal ditches and karst filtrations (figure 4b). The third zone, covering the central part of the Bay, where the highest salinity values -over 37 (with less standard deviation)- were found during all the field campaigns, evidencing that the central part of the bay is strongly influenced by the higher-salinity opensea waters and less influenced by the continental contributions.

Figure 3a, b Current field roses at 7 m and 10 m depth respectively (stations M1 and M2), showing that the currents path follow the shoreline and isobaths orientation of Cullera Bay.

Chlorophyll a The highest chlorophyll a concentrations observed in Cullera Bay during the field campaigns correspond to the less saline concentrations, being the maximum concentrations in the upperstream fluvial station, where the water is usually stagnated and w here salinity values are lower. The general observed trend of the chlorophyll a content is to decrease with the increase of the salinity. Regarding the overall spatial distribution of chlorophyll a within Cullera Bay, the highest concentrations are close to the shoreline (stations P6, P7, P8, P9 and P11 in figure 1b), showing a seaward decreasing trend. The chlorophyll a concentrations near the river mouth are due to the Jcar River flow, which is highly regulated in its last stretch. La Marquesa weir, 2 km upstream, has stagnated water with a large residence time, which allow the phytoplankton to grow. However, it is interesting to note that, despite the low continental influence, significant chlorophyll a concentrations are found in the vicinities of Cullera Cape. This is the result of the local hydrodynamics which, due to a strong

C. Msso et al.

boundary condition effect, follow the isobaths mainly in a N-S path (figures 3a, b). This situation promotes a barrier effect of Cullera Cape ( Mestres et al., 2004), favouring the chlorophyll a accumulation. The chlorophyll a concentrations in the sea stations range from 0.29 mg/m3 in open sea waters with less continental influence, to 3.82 mg/m3 close to the river mouth. A maximum concentration of 33.05 mg/m3 was observed in the fluvial station.
4342000

4342000

4341000

ECOSUD 5

ECOSUD 9

4341000

4340000 Latitude [utm]

4340000 Latitude [utm]

4339000

4339000

Salinity

Salinity

4338000

4338000

4337000

4337000

4336000 736000

737000

738000

739000

740000

741000

742000

4336000 736000

737000

738000

739000

740000

741000

742000

Longitude [utm]

Longitude [utm]

Figure 4a, b Surface salinity distribution showing the continental influence, close to the river and close to Cullera Cape respectively.

Nutrients The maximum concentrations of nitrates are found close to the river mouth (evidencing the continental influence), and non-negligible concentrations near Cullera Cape, where punctual freshwater inputs have been detected. The analyses of the concentration values of nitrogen dissolved nutrients have shown an inverse behaviour with the salinity concentration, and a positive correlation with the chlorophyll content (figure 5a, b).
4342000
300

Nitrates Ecosud 5
4341000
250

Ecosud 2 Salinity- Nitrate Diagram

4340000 Latitude [utm]

200

4339000

N itrate s (M )
737000 738000 739000 740000 741000 742000

150

4338000

100

4337000

50

4336000 736000

0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Longitude [utm]

Salinity

Figure 5a, b Surface nitrate distribution showing the continental influence, close to the river mouth (Ecosud 5) and the inverse behaviour with the salinity (Ecosud 2) respectively.

A similar trend is observed with NH4 (which is sometimes an indicative of human sources of organic waste, such as sewage or agricultural runoff), although with the exception of Ecosud 3 and 4 field campaigns, in which a positive correlation with the salinity values was found. It is important to remark that the inverse-behavior rule is not applicable to

Eutrophication Monitoring in Cullera Bay, Spanish Mediterranean Coast

ammonium, since its distribution is governed not only by the salinity structure, but also by the origin of the continental contributions, and by the presence of benthonic contributions in the north of the bay. As a result, the ammonium distribution may vary, depending on which process is dominant. On the other hand, the nitrates and ammonium showed (with exception of Ecosud 4) a positive correlation with the chlorophyll a content (figure 6a, b). The observed groups are mainly freshwater forms, which benefit from the high nutrient concentrations found in the fresh/brackish water of the Jcar River, but decrease their population density when the salinity increases, due to the saline shock and the inverse behaviour with nutrients.
220 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 0 3 6 9 12 15 5 Clo ro p hyll vs. Ammon iu m a n d N itra te s Eco 8 C lor oph yll- Ammon ium Eco 8 C lor oph yll- Nitr ate s Eco 8 C lor oph yll- Nitr ate s Eco 8 L ine ar Fit C lor oph yll- Ammon ium Eco 8 Lin ear Fit Clorophy ll vs. Ammoni um and N itrates Ec o 4 Clorophyll-Ammonium Ec o4 Clorophyll-Ammonium Ec o4 Linear Fit Clorophyll-N itrates Eco4 Clorophyll-N itrates Eco4 Linear Fit

A mmo n iu m - Ni trate s ( M) C lo ro phyl l

A mmo n iu m - Ni trate s ( M)

Cl orop hyl l

Figure 6a, b Chlorophyll a concentration against ammonium and nitrate concentration. The general observed trend is a positive correlation between chlorophyll a with ammonium and nitrates (e.g. Ecosud 8), except for Ecosud 4, where the behaviour of chlorophyll a and ammonium is inverse.

Conclusions
Cullera Bay is a clear example of multi-source polluted coastal environment. As a result of the combined discharge of the Jcar freshwater and sewage from a marine outfall, the Cullera coastal area occasionally presents severe water quality issues . The eutrophication monitoring consisted of the field study of the main transport driving mechanisms and water constituent parameters distribution within the bay. The overall analysis of the wind shows a marked daily breeze pattern. This situation, together with the low river flow momentum and the jetties asymmetry, leads the river plume (and thus the transport of the pollutants entering Cullera Bay through the river mouth) to be trapped, in the vicinities of the river mouth. This is corroborated by the salinity distribution observed within the bay, where the lower values were most of the time close to the river mouth, and occasionally near Cullera Cape. It is interesting to point out that, near the river mouth, the salinity values presented the higher standard deviation, probably due to the strong variations in the Jcar river flow during the sampling year, and to changes in the behaviour of the freshwater plume due to variations in the local wind direction. Regarding the current field, it is strongly longshore-directed (mainly in a N-S path), following the isobaths and the shoreline. So the outfall-borne pollutants (since a mixing throughout the water column is expected) will be mainly transported alongshore, along the recreative beaches and may be significantly affected by the cape (barrier effect) under any wind speed, therefore contributing decisively to the sink nature of the bay. Thus, the marine outfall, more than the river outflow, could have a higher relative importance in the water quality degradation in

C. Msso et al.

Cullera Bay. However, the proximity of the marine outfall to the river mouth makes difficult to evaluate their individual environmental impact. The spatial salinity distribution is a useful indicative of the spatial distribution of nutrients and pollutants, since their behaviour is inverse. This can be applied as well to the chlorophyll a distribution, mainly to nitrogen dissolved nutrients since these nutrient contents have a positive correlation with the chlorophyll a concentrations. Within this context, the higher nutrient concentrations are close to the recreational beaches, where the chlorophyll a presents its maximum values, strengthening the hypothesis of the longshore distribution of eutrophicated waters within the Bay, coming from the Jcar River mouth and marine outfall. On the other hand, the chlorophyll a accumulation in the beaches close to Cullera Cape strength the hypothesis of the barrier effect as a sink of pollutants.

Acknowledgements
This work has been funded by the projects Estuaries and Coastal Areas. Bases and Tools for a more Sustainable Development (ECOSUD) from the EU programme INCO (Reference no. ICA4-CT-2001-10027) and Desarrollo y optimizacin de tcnicas para gestionar los vertidos de aguas residuales de emisarios submarinos (ARTEMISA) from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Reference no. REN2003-07585-C02-01/MAR).

References
Bethoux J. P., Morin P. Madec C. and Gentili B. (1992). Phosphorous and nitrogen behaviour in the Mediterranean Sea. Deep-Sea Research, 39(9), 1641-1654. Fuentes P. (1999). Fuentes de eutrofia en el litoral de Benicasim-Castelln, PhD. Thesis , Universidad Politcnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain, 698 p. Kirkwood D., Aminot A. and Pertill M. (1991). Report on the Results of the ICES Fourth Intercomparison Exercise for Nutrients in Sea Water, Cooperative Research No 174. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Copenhagen, Denmark, 83 p. Le Pape O., Del Amo Y., Menesguen A., Aminot A., Quequiner B. and Treguer P. (1996) Resistance of a coastal ecosystem to increase eutrophic conditions: The Bay of Brest (France), a semi-enclosed zone of western Europe. Continental Shelf Research 16(15), 1885-1907 Mestres M., Sanchez-Arcilla A., Sierra J. P., Msso C., Tagliani P. R., Moller O. and Niencheski L. F. (2005). Coastal bays as a sink for pollutants and sediments. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 39 (in press). M sso C., Sanchez-Arcilla A., Sierra J.P., Mestres M., Gonzlez D. and Gonzalez del Rio J. (2002). Tools for a sustainable development of estuarios and coastal areas. Proc. of the International Workshop on beaches of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, Kusadasi, Turkey, 155-164. Moutin T., Raimbault P., Golterman H. L. and Coste B. (1998). The input of nutrients by the Rhone River into the Mediterranean Sea: Recent observations and comparison with earlier data. Hydrobiology, 373-374, 237-246. Parsons T. R., Maita Y. and Lalli C. M. (1984). A Manual of Chemical and Biological Methods for Seawater Analysis . Academic Press, London, U. K. 173 p. Pres J. M. (1980). La polucin de las aguas marinas. Ed. Omega, S. A., Barcelona, Spain. 247 p. Riegman R., Noordelos A. A. M. and Cade G. C. (1992). Phaeocystis blooms and eutrophication of the continental coastal zones of the North Sea. Marine Biology, 112, 479-484. Romero I. (2004). Comportamiento de los Nutrientes en la Pluma del Ro Ebro. PhD. Thesis , Universidad Politcnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain, 698 p. Sierra J. P., Gonzlez del Ro J., Flos, J., Snchez-Arcilla A., Movelln E., Rodilla M., Msso C., Martnez R., Falco S., Romero I. and Velasco M. J. (2002). Spatial distribution of nutrients in the Ebro estuary and Plume. Continental Shelf Research, 22, 361-378. Treguer P. and Le Corre. P. (1975). Manuel danalyse des sels nutrifis dans leau de mer . Universit de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France, 110 p.