Mitigation Measures for Water Pollution and Flooding

This chapter discusses the range of measures that can be used to mitigate the impacts of water pollution and flooding. It makes a distinction between source measures which aim to reduce the amount of water or pollutant initially mobilised, pathway interventions which seek to slow the flow of pollutant enriched water once it has become mobilised and methods to protect receptor water bodies which are intended to reduce peak flows or prevent pollutants moving further through a catchment. In many European countries the policies and programmes used to increase the adoption of such measures are heavily influenced by EU obligations stemming from the Floods, Nitrates and Water Framework Directives. Typical approaches used involve a combination of regulation, financial incentives and advice provision. There are also a range of tools that can be used to model the potential effects of mitigation measures and a number of research programmes generating findings that may be of value to the landscape planner.