Rich Waters: Cooperation for Better Water

Clean drinking water as well as healthy lakes and streams are a must for people, animals and plants to feel good. The Rich Waters project will develop new knowledge and better methods for tackling some of the most serious environmental problems that affect water quality and vitality.

Rich Waters is part of the European Commission's environmental program LIFE. It is a collaboration between authorities, municipalities, companies, researchers and water management associations. The goal is to build wetlands, build hiking trails for fish past ponds and clean stormwater. In addition to these concrete measures, the project will also spread knowledge about water work and support technological development for water. The work will lead to the right measure being implemented in the right place in agriculture, reduced phosphorus leakage from lake sediments and increased knowledge about the presence of environmental toxins.

The project focuses on measures in five areas:

• Reduce eutrophication from agriculture, small sewers and stormwater
• Reduce nutrient leakage from lake bottoms
• Reduce the amount of environmental toxins in our waters
• Create free hiking trails for fish
• Improve water planning

Researchers from IVL Swedish Environmental Institute participate in two work packages where they will look at innovative measurement methods in stormwater and develop a tool for modeling measures against phosphorus leakage in lakes.

The coordinator is the county administrative board in Västmanland, where the Water Authority for the North Baltic water district is located. The project consists of 35 participating partners who represent a wide range of organizations at national, regional, municipal and local level, authorities, municipalities, companies, universities and water management associations.