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A Network Management Framework for Spatiotemporal Control of Nutrient Pollution
Citation:
Ruiz-Mercado, Gerardo J. A Network Management Framework for Spatiotemporal Control of Nutrient Pollution. Workshops at Delft U., U. of Salamanca, Pazmany Peter U., and 3rd Symposium on Global Sustainability, Rome, N/A, ITALY, September 24 - October 07, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Coordinated management strategies of anthropogenic nutrient sources are needed to achieve a more effective and permanent solution for nutrient pollution and subsequent effects on watersheds and water bodies, resource and energy security, and reduce the human impact on the environment. This conference presentation describes a network management approach of nutrient-rich sources over time and space by an optimized logistics approach for recovering and repurposing nutrients, controlling nutrient pollution, and observing the effect of nutrient releases on reducing the potential for harmful algal blooms. This contribution would be of relevant interest for stakeholders looking for feasible solutions to address quality of water challenges and ecological and economic impacts caused by inefficient management of anthropogenic nutrient sources and HABs.
Description:
Nutrient pollution, especially phosphorus (P) for freshwater is causing the development of harmful algal blooms (HABs). HABs pose severe health threats due to the release of toxins and the appearance of hypoxia in water bodies. Also, HABs lead to significant economic losses since they affect tourism, recreational and commercial activities. However, the transport of nutrients polluting water bodies is a space-time phenomenon that involves multiple scales and is tightly related to the geography of croplands surrounding the water bodies and the intensive use of fertilizers. This approach integrates multiple modeling tools to analyze the relationship between nutrient releases, nutrient transport, and HABs development. It shows how the nutrient concentration in water bodies and other factors over time and space are related to HAB development and how network management of nutrient sources can be used to conduct spacetime studies on nutrient pollution and associated environmental impacts such as HAB events. Specifically, it shows that nutrient source networks can be used to control HABs by strategically using waste storage and processing systems and by enabling nutrient mobilization via waste transportation and processing. Specifically, by designing an effective coordination network that stores, mobilizes, and processes nutrient sources, it is possible to balance and recycle nutrients more effectively and control the timing of toxic bloom occurrence and find which locations are suited to reduce the nutrient impact to ambient water.