Water Quality Management Based on the Integral Approach

We offer a model for integrated water quality management. The proposed model integrates water protection, land and water use, preservation of ecosystem sustainability, preservation of functional unity of catchment and river flow and socio-economic activity in the catchment. The model has been developed on the basis of combining existing models, including balancing, deterministic (2D) and statistical models and ecological assessment systems, which are used for description, evaluation and prognosis of water and ecosystem quality on a catchment scale. The catchment and the river are studied in physical and functional unity of separate elements and their interaction. A scheme for practical application of the model for water quality management in the catchment is presented. The model is applied for water quality management of the Mesta River catchment in Bulgaria. On the basis of simulation studies using the model, a management solution is proposed for improving the water quality of the Mesta River on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria. The construction of wastewater treatment plants in the towns of Razlog, Gotse Delchev, Bansko, Yakoruda and Hadzhidimovo is proposed, as well as regulation of the Mesta River runoff by means of constructing a water reservoir in the river gorge above the Nevrokop valley. Regulation is also proposed for some low water tributaries, as well as corrections of river sections and repair of melioration facilities. At present, the model is applied for integrated water quality management of the Struma River in cooperation with the University of Ghent (Belgium).