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Multidecadal water quality trends across 15 European river basins along a Mediterranean climate gradient
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Water quality degradation is a major issue in Mediterranean regions, but identifying the key natural and human drivers remains challenging, requiring large–scale studies for meaningful synthesis and comparison. This study analyzed a vast Mediterranean dataset spanning 89,015 km2 across 15 Iberian river basins along a climate gradient (cooler-wetter north to warmer-drier south), 3 decades, 3441 stations, 19 parameters, and ∼15 million observations. It is the first study of this scale in the region, utilizing custom scripts for automated data compilation and processing. The study revealed an evident north–to–south water quality decline, with rising electric conductivity, pH, total suspended solids, nitrogen, phosphorus, organic carbon, and sulphate, alongside reduced dissolved oxygen and transparency. This pattern correlated with the latitudinal climate gradient and intensified agriculture in the south (Pearson correlation coefficient: 0.1 to 0.53; Spearman's rank correlation coefficient: 0.17 to 0.56), while increased forest cover had a mitigating effect (Pearson: −0.50 to −0.07; Spearman: −0.51 to −0.10). Multidecadal trend analysis revealed a shift around 2005 with most parameters decreasing, except for nitrate and phosphate, which rose likely due to the 2004/05 drought reducing river dilution and expanded irrigated agriculture, especially in Alentejo with the Alqueva reservoir. These findings are crucial for guiding future national management actions and pollution reduction initiatives in Mediterranean regions, aligning with the European Commission's “European Green Deal” that targets a 50 % reduction in nutrient losses to make agriculture more environmentally sustainable, and also provide a valuable reference to many other regions with similar challenges for water quality management.
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Funding Information:
This work is funded by National Funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology under the Projects UIDB/05183 and Water4All/003/2023 It was supported by the research centers MED (Instituto Mediterrâneo para a Agricultura, Ambiente e Desenvolvimento, Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development) and CREATE (Centre for Sci-Tech Research in Earth Systems and Energy) at the University of Évora. The authors would like to acknowledge also the support of CHANGE (Instituto para as Alterações Globais e Sustentabilidade, Global Change & Sustainability Institute).
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© 2025 The Author(s)
Palavras-chave
Historical monitoring Mediterranean regions Water quality Watersheds Environmental Engineering Environmental Chemistry Waste Management and Disposal Pollution SDG 13 - Climate Action