Echinoderms as indicators of brine discharge impacts

Abstract

Echinoderms are osmoconformer organisms and are expected to be very sensitive to brine discharges. The objective of this study is to examine the use of echinoderms as early warning indicators of the impact of brine discharges and its application in the management of desalination discharges. We sampled using visual census along transect lines, for nine consecutive years and in three different stations, i.e. before the seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant began operating and thereafter. One year after the plant operation, echinoderms disappeared from the localities affected by the desalination brine. When the desalination brine was diluted with seawater prior to discharge, it was observed a recovery of echinoderm densities in these localities. Therefore, echinoderm populations may be used as early indicators to monitor impacts associated with a desalination brine discharge, but also to detect a possible recovery of a previously impacted area when additional mitigation measures to reduce the impact of brine discharge have been implemented.

Keywords:

• Desalination discharge
• Echinoderms
• Biological indicators
• Monitoring
• Impact

Acknowledgements

This project was financially supported by the Water Consortium “Mancomunidad de Canales del Taibilla”. We also would like to thank Alicante Marina for the use of its equipment and facilities, as well as Aurora Garrote, Aitor Forcada, Yoana del Pilar, Marta Díaz-Valdés, Candela Marco, Santiago García, Rubén Olmo and Eleuterio Abellán who assisted in field data collection during all these years.

Notes

Presented at the International Conference on Desalination for the Environment, Clean Water and Energy, European Desalination Society, 23–26 April 2012, Barcelona, Spain