Integrated constructed wetlands: water management as a land-use issue, implementing the ‘Ecosystem Approach’

摘要

Awareness of the need for social, economic and environmental coherence in the management ofnwater is becoming evermore apparent. Water supply as well as treatment is becoming more costly;na challenge that is not only limited to developing countries. The use of wetlands, natural andnconstructed, is now more widely accepted as a means of tackling a range of problems in waternmanagement to deliver this coherence. The use of 16 Integrated Constructed Wetlands that mimicnshallow, emergent-vegetated, palustrine wetlands in a 2,500 ha catchment in County Waterford,nSoutheast Ireland, has shown a number of distinct advantages in implementing the all encompassingn‘Ecosystem Approach’, addressing the key elements for sustainable water management in annintensively used agricultural area. The significant increase in water quality, biodiversity, socialnamenities and acceptance by the local rural community provided by this ‘real’ field-scalendemonstration show the benefits that such a joined-up approach can have on catchmentnmanagement in the widest sense.