INTEGRATING TOOLS FOR SURFACE WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT - Integrating GIS, Remote Sensing, and Mathematical Modelling for Surface Water Quality Management - page 47

be acceptable or non-acceptable. Schemes show a more top-down sequence of a restricted number
of activities, starting from a rather arbitrarily chosen network and having an open end concerning
the production of data.

3. Monitoring Systems: The 1980s witnessed continuing development of data collection and storage

methods, refined statistical characterisation of water quality variable behaviour (especially
directed toward trend-detection) and a merging appreciation of the need to design water quality
networks according to systems principles. The distinction between data and information was
emphasised. Systematic design procedures developed included a 12-Step Process (Sanders et al.,
1979), a 5 Step-Process (Sanders et al., 1987), a formal (4-task) Systematic Design Procedure
(Mar et al., 1986), the New-Zealand National Network design (Smith et al., 1989), a 5 step
(optimisation) process (Schilperoort and Groot, 1983) and “wheel and axle” framework (Payne
and Ford, 1988).

4. Information Systems: The late 1980's and early 1990s witnessed continued development of data

collection and statistical analyses, and of frameworks to guide the design of more comprehensive
water information systems. The guiding principle in this is that monitoring (and assessment)
should be seen as a sequence of related activities that starts with the definition of information
needs and ends with the use of the information products. This cycle of activities is called the
“monitoring cycle” (Figure 6) . Increasingly, their potential contribution to broad water
management systems and ecological management systems has been recognised. To begin to
address the problem, the concept of a “ water quality information system ” was proposed by Ward
(1979) and Ward (1986). Examples of these efforts include a “5 step framework for designing
water quality information systems (Ward et al., 1990) and the development of “Data Analysis
Protocols” (Atkins, 1993).

5. Management Information Systems: Recent water management trends have set the standard for a

new era. Water monitoring and information systems must become Water Management
Information Systems. As management information systems, these programs must:

Derive from goals and associated water management objectives

Satisfy expanded water management objectives and information needs.

link directly to specific water management decision needs and decision processes
(“monitoring for action”)

Be dynamic, i.e. designed to be continuously reviewed and improved (Hotto et al., 1997;
Misseyer, 1999).

The scope of this study is beyond detailed discussion on the water quality monitoring but it is an
important part to be highlighted. To deal with water quality modeling and integrating it with other
tools for management purpose, it is crucial to point to the importance of data acquisition and
availability with a certain quality, so eventually it could be transferred from monitoring to action by
means of management tools. Evaluating water quality in a meaningful way is a complex issue and
involves several items to be taken into consideration. A single sample from a specific water body can
only tell what the water quality is at that particular time and that specific location. This is true because
of changes that occur in water chemistry as water moves downstream, as evaporation from the soil
surface occurs, and as transpiration (the uptake and loss of water) by plants takes place. In order to
develop an accurate understanding of how clean or polluted a particular water body is, especially the
flowing streams, rivers and lakes, it is necessary to collect and analyze water samples from the same
location over time and in different locations over different times. Another important factor in
evaluating water quality data is the need for measurement of the flow rate and the dimensions and
physical properties of the water body. Climate and meteorological data are also of great importance for
detailed assessment studies of water quality. Therefore, water quality assessment methodologies
involve data acquisition in different categories and forms.