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Newsletter and Technical Publications
<Planning and Management of Lakes and Reservoirs:
An Integrated Approach to Eutrophication
Abridged Version- A Student's Guide>
Monitoring as a Management and Decision-Making Tool in Water Quality and
Eutrophication
In most countries, including most developing countries, monitoring of water
quality has occurred for many decades. In the past, and even today in some
lesser developed countries, monitoring has been mainly focused on public health
issues with a principal interest in microbiological vectors that are the main
causes of water-borne diseases. In such cases, water quality monitoring is
generally under the control of ministries of health, and the larger dimensions
of aquatic pollution may not be included in such programs. However, as countries
become more developed and the range of aquatic impacts from water pollution
increase, monitoring becomes more comprehensive with the hope that it will
provide information on a wide range of water quality management issues.
Unfortunately, in many countries, including many developed countries, it has
been the experience of many professionals that monitoring tends to be poorly
focused and without clear sets of program objectives. The consequence is that
these programs are inefficient and do not provide the level of information that
is needed to provide an effective tool for managing environmental concerns.
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