Surface water quality refers to the physicochemical and biological characteristics of water in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, streams, and coastal zones as they relate to ecological integrity, human use, and regulatory standards. It encompasses parameters such as nutrients (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus), dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, turbidity, suspended solids, salinity, trace metals, organic contaminants, pathogens, and emerging pollutants (e.g., pharmaceuticals, microplastics). Research on surface water quality involves monitoring, modeling contaminant transport and transformation, assessing pollution sources (point and nonpoint), evaluating ecosystem and human health risks, and developing management and remediation strategies within hydrological and biogeochemical frameworks.
More than 100 shallow lakes stretching over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) along the Atlantic coast of southern Brazil and Uruguay could become one of the world's most important natural laboratories for understanding how climate ...
Earth Sciences
8 hours ago
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The Guadalquivir is the most important river in Andalusia. Stretching 657 kilometers (408 miles), it forms the backbone of Andalusia, from its source in the Sierra de Cazorla mountains to its mouth in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. ...
Environment
Jul 16, 2026
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8
A new study finds a widely used technique for assessing the health of freshwater streams is not effective at detecting a range of water quality problems, including those related to acidity, oxygen levels and the presence ...
Environment
Jul 13, 2026
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9
Portable screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) biosensors offer a rapid, low-cost way to detect microcystin-lysine-arginine (MC-LR), an extremely potent toxin produced by cyanobacteria during harmful algal blooms in freshwater. ...
Environment
Jul 12, 2026
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10
Researchers from King's College London recorded the warning signs of a major low-oxygen event in Lake Victoria just hours before fish deaths were reported by local communities, demonstrating why earlier warning systems are ...
Ecology
Jul 10, 2026
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The summers of 2021 and 2022 were tough seasons for Colorado's Blue Mesa Reservoir. A severe drought gripped much of the western U.S., prompting emergency water releases that brought the reservoir to its lowest level since ...
Environment
Jul 6, 2026
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When bright green water appeared in the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, it drew national attention and sparked political finger-pointing. The culprit: cyanobacteria—sometimes called blue-green algae—a type ...
Environment
Jun 29, 2026
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Algal blooms in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., have long been a visible public nuisance. When the pool turned green again on June 15, less than two weeks after President Donald Trump's US$14 million ...
Environment
Jun 29, 2026
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Long-term conservation policies may help restore freshwater ecosystems and prevent extreme species loss, new research suggests.
Ecology
Jun 26, 2026
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8
NOAA and its research partners are forecasting a moderate harmful algal bloom (HAB) in western Lake Erie this summer. This year's bloom is expected to measure 3.5 on the HAB severity index, with a potential range of 3 to ...
Environment
Jun 26, 2026
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