Water management of river beaches - a Portuguese case study

Abstract

The quality of water is crucial for the qualification of river beaches. The Portuguese Environment Agency is the national Institution for a legal recognition of river beaches, and it is mandatory to comply a set of legal requirements. The Cávado River watershed (Northern Portugal) contains five river beaches with a regular and specific mandatory monitorization. The main subject of this research is the evaluation of spatial and temporal water microbiological and physic-chemical parameters to assess about the water quality improvement and consequently watershed management. The results of monitoring surface water, considering microbiological parameters from the five river beaches (2015/19), and physicochemical parameters from three water points along the Cávado River (2018/19) were considered. The river beaches located upstream the town of Braga has an "excellent" and "good" quality, while the river beach located downstream shows a lower water quality. The physicochemical water results indicated that there is a progressive degradation of water quality from upstream to downstream the river, which is associated to the influence of domestic and industrial activities. To improve water quality, it will be necessary a continuous monitoring, with the implementation of adequate awareness-raising programs and a strategic water quality management by the population and local agents.