Articles | Volume 19, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2491-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2491-2015
Research article
 | 
26 May 2015
Research article |  | 26 May 2015

Using high-frequency water quality data to assess sampling strategies for the EU Water Framework Directive

R. A. Skeffington, S. J. Halliday, A. J. Wade, M. J. Bowes, and M. Loewenthal

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Cited articles

Bowes, M. J., Leach, D. V., and House, W. A.: Seasonal nutrient dynamics in a chalk stream: the River Frome, Dorset, UK, Sci. Total Environ., 336, 225–241, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.05.026, 2005.
Bowes, M. J., Smith, J. T., and Neal, C.: The value of high-resolution nutrient monitoring: A case study of the River Frome, Dorset, UK, J. Hydrol., 378, 82–96, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.09.015, 2009.
Bowes, M. J., Smith, J. T., Neal, C., Leach, D. V., Scarlett, P. M., Wickham, H. D., Harman, S. A., Armstrong, L. K., Davy-Bowker, J., Haft, M., and Davies, C. E.: Changes in water quality of the River Frome (UK) from 1965 to 2009: Is phosphorus mitigation finally working?, Sci. Total Environ., 409, 3418–3430, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.04.049, 2011.
Cassidy, R. and Jordan, P.: Limitations of instantaneous water quality sampling in surface-water catchments: comparison with near-continuous phosphorus time-series data, J. Hydrol., 405, 182–193, 2011.
Davison, A. C. and Hinkley, D. V.: Bootstrap Methods and their Applications, Cambridge Series in Statistical and Probabilistic Mathematics, Cambridge University Press Cambridge, 1997.
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Short summary
The EU Water Framework Directive requires rivers to be of good chemical and ecological quality. Chemical quality is assessed by sampling and analysing the water. Normal sampling regimes might involve taking a sample monthly or weekly. This paper uses high-frequency data from rivers to assess how accurate these regimes are at assessing the true chemical quality. Weekly sampling was more accurate than monthly, but there were still large uncertainties. We suggest ways to improve sampling accuracy.