Calidad del agua y niveles guía para la protección de la biodiversidad acuática. Interacción entre ciencia y gestión

Abstract

Water quality and guide levels for the protection of aquatic biodiversity. Interaction between science and management. Argentina has a great diversity of aquatic environments associated with the variety of climatic regions that determine unique characteristics of hydrological basins. This diversity is given by morphological conditions, physicochemical characteristics and the presence of natural and xenobiotic substances derived from anthropic activity. The toxicity of different substances on aquatic biota produces modifications in the quality of the aquatic systems. To maintain the benefits and services that the ecosystems offer, a long time effective management based on its integral management is necessary. Strategies for protection of aquatic biodiversity demand definition of guide levels (NG) for water quality. According to the environmental policy of Argentina, those who manage the water resource consider the NG of water quality as a reference framework for the definition of its aptitude in relation to their uses. The definition of NG is among the incumbencies of the hydrological national authority. With this objective, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MAyDS) was linked with the National Scientific and Technical Research Council - Argentina (CONICET) to work in the water quality and to establish NG for the protection of aquatic biodiversity (NG-PBA). Considering the demand from the government sector, the aims of this work were: to obtain a robust methodology that allows determining NG-PBA, to establish criteria for selection and prioritization of substances, and to discuss the regional adaptation of the NG-PBA. The agreed methodology was based on the NG-PBA previously developed by the ex- Secretary of Water Resources (SSRH), updated in terms of the operative sequences, statistic method, and amount and prioritization of species. A preliminary list of substances for which establishing the corresponding NG to derivate was determined. It was recognized the interaction between scientific knowledge and management of natural resources as a synergic tool, and as superlative mechanism for the protection of aquatic biodiversity.