Bodensee

Water Quality Management strategies for Bodensee Country: Germany Client: Various authorities Partners: KUP Year: 1999 Value: AUD$20,000 (proposal fee)

CWR, in conjunction with Prof. Kobus & Partners, prepared a proposal for various German water authorities and agencies to develop a water quality management strategy for the Bodensee (Lake Konstanz). The proposal submitted by the consortium included preliminary modelling of Bodensee conducted by CWR using DYRESM-CAEDYM and ELCOM.

The Bodensee is Europe's second-largest lake and largest drinking water reservoir and is a major tourist destination for the region. Increasing population pressure in the catchment led to eutrophication of the lake in the 1970's before the implementation of remedial measures reduced nutrient inputs. These actions cost close to AUD$3000M and have returned the lake to an oligotrophic state. Past management strategies have relied heavily on bulk loading models and these indicate that further nutrient removal is necessary at great additional cost. Furthermore, the water is now showing increasing concentrations of ecoli, viruses and protozoa.

The development of a water quality management strategy for the bodensee and its catchment will secure the future of this important water resource. The integration of in-lake monitoring with a suite of hydrodynamic and ecological models to form a comprehensive decision support system will provide a useful prototype for other large lakes that are subject to changing catchment land-use and increased nutrient loading.

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