State of the art on monitoring and assessment of rivers

The strategy of water quality monitoring and assessment in general is dealt with. The report provides insight into the relevance of monitoring and assessment as tool for the provision of information required for management and control. Deals with the definition of criteria for the protection of the various uses of water resources and the setting of objectives for improving water quality. The setting of criteria for the protection of aquatic life based on either chemicals or on ecosystem community structure and functioning, is considered. At last the more technical features of the design and operation of monitoring programmes are discussed.