Over the last 20 years a series of research projects analysed water quality issues of the Venice Lagoon and its watershed (VLW). The policy framework was related to the implementation of the Italian special law for the safeguarding of Venice and a series of European regulations, including the Nitrate and the Water Framework directives and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The main focus was on diffuse pollution from agricultural sources - nitrogen and phosphorous in particular - with the aim of assessing the impacts of current and alternative cultivation and livestock practices. Many different modelling approaches were adopted, ranging from cognitive mapping for expert knowledge elicitation, to deterministic mechanistic models at different scales and Bayesian Belief Networks. One general evidence of the long term research efforts is that there is not a single or best modelling solution to the water management issues of the VLW. Instead, trade-offs between different approaches are always evident, for example in the data needs, management of complexity and uncertainty, on one side, and knowledge transfer, communication and policy support on the other. Therefore, integration of multiple models is required. In particular a two step procedure is suggested for combining qualitative and quantitative knowledge and tools within a participatory process for policy and decision making.

Water Quality Assessment in the Venice Lagoon Watershed with Multiple Modelling Approaches

GIUPPONI, Carlo;
2012-01-01

Abstract

Over the last 20 years a series of research projects analysed water quality issues of the Venice Lagoon and its watershed (VLW). The policy framework was related to the implementation of the Italian special law for the safeguarding of Venice and a series of European regulations, including the Nitrate and the Water Framework directives and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The main focus was on diffuse pollution from agricultural sources - nitrogen and phosphorous in particular - with the aim of assessing the impacts of current and alternative cultivation and livestock practices. Many different modelling approaches were adopted, ranging from cognitive mapping for expert knowledge elicitation, to deterministic mechanistic models at different scales and Bayesian Belief Networks. One general evidence of the long term research efforts is that there is not a single or best modelling solution to the water management issues of the VLW. Instead, trade-offs between different approaches are always evident, for example in the data needs, management of complexity and uncertainty, on one side, and knowledge transfer, communication and policy support on the other. Therefore, integration of multiple models is required. In particular a two step procedure is suggested for combining qualitative and quantitative knowledge and tools within a participatory process for policy and decision making.
2012
2012 International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software. Managing Resources of a Limited Planet, Sixth Biennial Meeting
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/32335
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