Complete Interpretive Analyses

Subtask Description:
Complete Collateral Analyses

Action points of the implementation:
The Collateral Analyses are the supplementary assessments and analysis that enrich the Simulation Model and its Scenario results. The suite of analyses accompanying to support the Simulation Model will vary as did that for the individual ESE Component Models. In this subtask, some categories are described as: Error Analysis, Risk Analysis, System Dependence, Sustainable Coastal Zone Management, ESE Interrelationships.

Area:
Barcelona Coast, Spain

Policy Issue:
Investigation of the effects of changes in water quality on the aesthetic and recreational aspects of the Barcelona beaches

Human Activities:
Large scale urban & industrial activity, tourism.

General Information:
The quality of the water in the various beaches is affected significantly during heavy storms. Wastewater treatment plants are unable to deal with the sudden increase of inflow and the capacity of storm collectors is often insufficient to temporarily store this water for later treatment. This results in large quantities of untreated wastewater being released into the coast, causing bacteria concentration to exceed safety levels thus obliging the beach authorities to temporarily prohibit bathing or just causing aesthetic degradation that prohibits beach users from bathing. Reduced use of the coastal water influences the beach users decision whether to stay at the beach or to leave, thus affecting the revenue received by the local businesses and being an important stakeholder concern.

Example of Implementation:
Risk Analysis:
Implementation of a “disaster scenario” on Barcelona coast, involving the wastewater treatment plant and the pumping station (figure 1, “100% release of untreated current output”).

Comments:
The baseline situation is compared to the possibility of the waste water treatment plant releasing effluent directly into the water near the beaches. Currently the treated effluent is pumped 3km offshore and so has no impact on the beach water quality (“baseline”). Other scenarios investigate if the effluent is treated or not and at various increased outputs. It is clear that releasing the treated effluent away from the beaches has a significant effect. Increases in output of effluent also significantly negatively affect the water quality. Although, this disaster scenario is unlikely to occur, it helps to verify that the model behaves as expected.

Contact: Ben Tomlinson, tomlinson@icm.csic.es .