Povodí Vltavy

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34125.].

Despite the long-term needs for research on benefits associated with recreation in nature-based areas that would be localized and methodologically sound, the evidence of such results is still very scarce at Czech and even at international level of tourism and recreation research, as well as in project evaluation practice. We strived for such results in a four-year interdisciplinary project "Recreational purposes of Vltava river cascade and its economic potential under the climate change". This contribution briefly presents the highlights of our results, the full set of results being publicly available at a web application https://shiny.fzp.czu.cz/kaskada-rekreace/ (in Czech language). Based on the results of the project, we demonstrate and discuss the particular uses of various socioeconomic indicators that have been estimated for the pilot site of the Vltava river cascade for communication with local stakeholders and regional to national decision-makers, for project/subsidy evaluation etc. This demonstration is relevant across disciplines such as water management, tourism, land management, nature protection etc.

The use of automatic samplers for detailed monitoring of substance concentrations and balance is nowadays an important part of special monitoring of surface waters. The average results of routine monitoring (consisting of point samples) are often underestimated over the real situation.

The effect of nutrient loading on trophic conditions and water quality in the Želivka Reservoir, a drinking water source for more than 1 million inhabitants, was evaluated for the period 1974–1994. The input of nutrients to the reservoir from the catchment showed a high inter-annual variation related to hydrology which controlled the intensity of nutrient losses from diffuse sources. A steep gradient of trophic conditions occurred in the reservoir between the eutrophic inflow reach and the mesotrophic lacustrine zone. Water quality in the lacustrine zone was suitable for the waterworks when the reservoir was filled near to its maximum volume, however, it started to be impaired by eutrophication when the water level decreased.. The minimum permissible water volume in the reservoir at which the treatment technology is not yet hampered by serious problems (presence of high concentrations of phytoplankton, organic matter and manganese in raw water) was predicted from empirical and functional models of algal growth.