Acid Waters in Wales

333 Pages·1990·7.1 MB·English

by  A. S. Gee (auth.), R. W. Edwards, A. S. Gee, J. H. Stoner (eds.)

ACID WATERS IN WALES
MONOGRAPHIAE
BIOLOGICAE
VOLUME 66
Series Editors
H.J. Dumont and M.J.A. Werger
Acid Waters in Wales
Edited by
R.W. EDWARDS, A.S. GEE
and
J.H. STONER
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS
DORDRECHT / BOSTON / LONDON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Acid waters in Wales I edited by R.W. Edwards. A.S. Gee. J.H. Stoner.
p. cm. -- (Monographiae biologicae : v. 66)
ISBN-13:978-94-010-7345-5 e-ISBN-13:978-94-009-1894-8
001: 10.1007/978-94-009-1894-8
1. Acid rain--Environmental aspects--Wales. 2. Land use--Wales-
-Management. 3. Water quality management--Wales. I. Edwards. R.
W. II. Gee, A. S. (Alun S.) III. Stoner. J. H. (John H.)
IV. Series.
OP1. P37 vo 1. 66
[OH545.A17]
574 s--dc20
[574.5'222] 89-39548
CIP
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© 1990 by Kluwer Academic Publishers
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owner.
The river's hard at it,
Tries and tries to wash and revive
A bedraggle of dirty bones. Primitive, radical
Engine of earth's renewal. A solution
Of all dead ends - an all-out evacuation
To the sea.
Ted Hughes
Poet Laureate
This book is dedicated to Guardians of the Water Environment
Preface
This book brings together research into the process of stream acidification
and its impact on Welsh surface waters, carried out over the past decade or
so. It is perhaps surprising that not until the 1980's was clear evidence of
stream acidification assembled.
In Wales, concerns over pollution had focused water quality sampling
principally on the areas of traditional heavy industry and large urban popula-
tions served by inadequate sewerage systems and sewage disposal arrange-
ments. Mistakenly, it had been assumed that, with its prevailing westerly
winds, Wales would receive precipitation substantially unpolluted by the
industrial and urban emissions from Britain and mainland Europe. Assurance
of the high quality of Welsh upland streams, the traditional nursery ground of
salmonids, was eroded particularly by studies in the vicinity of Llyn Brianne
reservoir in the catchment of the River Tywi of Central Wales. These
demonstrated a clear correspondence between the biological quality and
fisheries of streams in the catchment and aspects of stream chemistry, par-
ticularly pH, aluminium and calcium on the one hand, and catchment land-
use on the other.
It is salutary to record that the first signals were of an inexplicable failure of
the runs of migratory salmonids into the upper catchment, occupied by the
Llyn Brianne reservoir and its influent streams, and the failure to restore the
fishery by re-stocking with eggs and fry. Only then did the significance of the
recent decline in some other upland lake and reservoir fisheries in Wales
become apparent.
Subsequent studies have developed along the following paths:
i) analytical and experimental investigations of inputs, pathways and effects
of acid precipitation, particularly in Llyn Brianne catchment but also
elsewhere (see Chap. 1), taking into account the potentially modifying
effects of forms of land-use and management. These studies include the
manipulation of land-management practices, particularly in the applica-
tion of lime products.
ii) a synoptic survey of stream chemistry at over 100 sites throughout Wales,
relating water quality to upstream land-use and, wherever possible,
x Preface
establishing the biological status of these sites.
iii) palaeoecological studies to establish the historical changes in lake ecosys-
tems and explore relationships with land use and atmospheric pollution.
iv) development and application of models which facilitate the prediction of
changes in the biological and chemical quality of surface waters with
changes in emission patterns of atmospheric pollutants and in land-use
and management practices.
All these components seem essential to establishing the extent and severity of
damage, in understanding the elements essential for its causation, and in
assessing the opportunities for ameliorating damage within an economic
framework and within a realistic time-scale of recovery.
These studies have together demonstrated that in a substantial area of
upland Wales, particularly the Cambrian Mountains, streams and lakes have
either acidified or are likely to acidify over the next century unless there are
significant changes in emission and land-use policies. Effective amelioration
within a reasonable timescale will only be achieved if proposed reductions in
emissions are further renewed downwards, procedures to control land-use
and management in sensitive areas are strengthened and liming is encouraged
in suitable locations.
Such a wide-ranging programme could not have been attempted without,
firstly, the collaboration of many research organisations and individuals
contributing complementary expertise (see Chap. 1) and, secondly, the
injection of adequate funding for the provision of equipment, costs of land-
treatments and the recruitment of contract staff. The major costs of the
programme have been borne by the Welsh Water Authority, particularly in
providing core staff and extensive analytical services (and from September
1989 by Welsh Region of the National Rivers Authority). We are also
particularly grateful to the Department of the Environment and Welsh Office
for much of this supplementary funding which will ensure that the programme
of catchment studies is maintained at least until 1991.
The Editors wish to thank the many people who helped with the individual
studies described here but whose efforts are not always recognised by author-
ship. The preparation of the book was greatly assisted by Alistair Donald,
Bob Hemmings and Sue Price who respectively checked the draft, traced
figures and organised references.
Ron Edwards
Alun Gee
John Stoner
Contents
l. Introduction to Welsh Studies 1
A.S. Gee
2. Chemical and ecological evidence on the acidification of
Welsh lakes and rivers 11
S.l. Ormerod and A.S. Gee
3. Recent acidification of upland lakes in North Wales:
palaeolimnological evidence 27
S.C. Fritz, A.M. Kreiser, P.G. Appleby and
R.W. Battarbee
4. Atmospheric Deposition 39
A.P. Donald, 1.H. Stoner, B. Reynolds, F. Oldfield,
B. Rippey and 1. N atkanski
5. The role of geology and soils in controlling surface water
acidity in Wales 55
M. Hornung, S. Le-Grice, N. Brown and D. Norris
6A. Recent land use change 67
R. Boon and D. Kay
6B. Acidified Welsh lakes: the significance of land use and
management 81
S.T. Patrick and A.C. Stevenson
7. The role of acidity in the ecology of Welsh lakes and
streams 93
S.l. Ormerod and K.R. Wade
8. Effects of acidification on fish and fisheries in Wales 121
N.l. Milner and P.V. Varallo
9. Acid deposition - Drinking Water Quality and Health 145
C.B. Buckley and L. Keil
10. Ecotoxicological studies of acidity in Welsh streams 159
N.S. Weatherley, C.P. McCahon, D. Pascoe and
S.l. Ormerod
xii
II. Dissolved inorganic aluminium in acidic stream and
soil waters in Wales 173
C. Neal, B. Reynolds, P.A. Stevens, M. Hornung
and S.J. Brown
12. Determination of aluminium speciation in acid waters 189
X. Goenaga and D.J.A. Williams
13. Catchment characteristics and basin hydrology: their
effects on streamwater acidity 203
S.C. Bird, R.P.D. Walsh and I.G. Littlewood
14. Water quality changes from input to stream 223
M. Hornung, B. Reynolds, P.A. Stevens and
S. Hughes
15. The influence of land management on stream water
chemistry 241
S.C. Bird, S.J. Brown and E. Vaughan
16. Hydrochemical modelling of acidification in Wales 255
P.G. Whitehead, T.J. Musgrove and B.J. Cosby
17. Modelling the ecological impact of changing acidity
in Welsh streams 279
S.J. Ormerod, N.S. Weatherley and A.S. Gee
18. Llyn Brianne - Acid deposition modelling 299
S.E. Metcalfe and R.G. Derwent
19. Amelioration of surface water acidity by catchment
management 311
M. Hornung, S.J. Brown and A. Ranson
Conversion table (equivalents and weights) 329
List of authors' addresses 331
Index 333
1. Introduction to Welsh studies
A.s. GEE
It is now over a century since acid precipitation was first studied in Britainll
but it is only in recent years that it has been recognised to have widespread
impact. As a result of a doubling of the consumption of fossil fuels in Europe
between 1940 and 1970, there has been a large increase in the emissions of
oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. Together with changes in emmission strategy,
this had led to an increase in the amount of acidity deposited in areas remote
from major sources. Where soils and rocks offer little buffering capacity, this
deposition has resulted in the acidification of surface waters and major
ecological changes. 15
The majority of published information on surface waters acidity is of North
American or Scandinavian origin.3 • 9 More recently however, the problem of
acidification has been identified in several areas of upland Britain.2 , 4, 13, 15
These and other studies? have shown that the water quality of streams, rivers
and lakes is determined by the quality and quantity of atmospheric deposi-
tion, the ability of soils and rocks to neutralise acids deposited or generated
within catchments and differences in land use. Acidification is thought to have
resulted in ecological changes including elimination of many plant and inver-
tebrate taxa, the loss of salmonid fisheries and a reduction in the density and
distribution of higher animals such as certain amphibians, birds and mam-
mals.
There is also some concern about the direct effects on man through the
impact on potable supplies.
Large areas of Wales are particularly vulnerable to acidification as the
rocks of the uplands are slow weathering and the soils have little or no acid
neutral ising capacity; the soft water streams and lakes have been particularly
severely affected. This process of acidification has been exacerbated by land
use changes - especially conifer afforestation, which alters the hydrological
regime and increases the loading of pollutants on the system.
Studies of acid waters in Wales are now sufficiently advanced to permit a
synthesis of ideas on mechanisms and to allow an assessment of the regional
impact. This book is largely based on work undertaken by the Welsh Water
Authority (WWA) , Institutes of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE) and Hydrology
(I H) and the Universities of London and Wales and has been structured so as
R.W. Edwards et al. (eds) Acid Waters in Wales. 1-9.
© 1990, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht