Diffuse Pollution and Sustainable Basin Management

Coping with diffuse pollution problems and sustainable watershed management play increasingly important roles in water quality control worldwide. Identification of diffuse sources of pollutants, actions to mitigate their negative impact on water resources, and protective measures taken to minimize their transportation on soil till they reach the water body are the major aspects to be tackled. Countries with widely differing geographical features and economic situations are trying to solve the problem of diffuse pollution and develop various integrated watershed management criteria that encompass the common idea of sustainability. To successfully achieve these aims requires the development of closer links between research and practice to enable the rapid application of recently established knowledge. This issue contains 34 papers, selected after full peer review from over 250 original submissions, covering the following topics: integrated watershed management; agricultural pollution abatement; modelling; institutional and regulatory frameworks and policy/socio-economic issues; urban drainage systems; traffic emissions; groundwater contamination and baseflow protection; pollution monitoring and experimental studies. They provide engineers, scientists, regulators and policy-makers working in the field of diffuse pollution and sustainable basin management with an authoritative compilation of current research and experience that sets out the opportunities for further research and best practical applications.