UNITED NATIONS UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT EDUCATIONAL, PROGRAMME SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION A WORLDWIDE SURFACE WATER CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM UNEP/ EMINWA PARIS, 1988 UNEP UNESCO AWORLDWID ESURFAC EWATE R CLASSIFICATIONSYSTE M L.W.G.Higle r Therepor twa sprinte db yth eResearc hInstitut e forNatur eManagement ,Leersum ,Th eNetherland s Unesco,Paris ,198 8 ^l CONTENTS FOREWORD 4 Acknowledgements 7 Introductory remarks 8 1 A classification of surface waters 8 2 Climate and hydrology 13 2.1 Climatological regions 13 2.2 Hydrological regimes/systems 20 3 Classification of running waters 24 4 Classification of stagnant waters 38 4.1 Classification acccording to origin 38 4.2 Classification according to morphometry 39 4.3 Classification according to thermal stratification 41 4.4 Classification according to chemical composition 45 Saline lakes 45 Acid waters 49 4.5 Classification according to trophic status 51 Intermezzo 55 4.6 Classification according to flora and fauna 61 Temporary waters 63 5 How to proceed? 65 Appendix I References 70 References of literature on zonation and classification of streams 71 References of general literature and literature on stagnant waters 93 Appendix II Ecological types of running water based on stream hydraulics in The Netherlands 103 Appendix III Questions and comments on the River Continuum Concept 111 Appendix IV Stream hydraulics as a major determinant of benthic invertebrate zonation patterns 119 Appendix V Flora and fauna of European running waters 133 Appendix VI Tables with data on morphometry of large water bodies 181 Appendix VII Appendices with data on saline lakes in the world 194 Appendix VIII Glossary 210 -4- FOREWORD The aim of the publication "A worldwide surface water classification system" is to propose a methodology and information for classifying water bodies that will facilitate the inter-comparison of hydro-environmental situations. This proposal is open to discussion, and critical comment and suggestions for changes and improvements would be welcomed and will be used for the preparation of a revised edition of the publication. The publication was prepared in*the framework of the UNEP/Unesco pro­ ject "Integrated Environmental Evaluation of Water Resources Develop­ ment", reference number FP/5201-85-01. The determination of the influence of man on the hydrological cycle and the impact of development projects on the water-related environment are priority areas for both UNEP and Unesco in their respective water programmes. The water resources programme of Unesco is centered on the Internatio­ nal Hydrological Programme (IHP). Within IHP the influence of man on the hydrological cycle has been a priority area since the start of the Inter­ national Hydrological Decade in 1965. This section covers scientific stu­ dies of the influence of man on the hydrological cycle, including water quantity and quality. The activities of man are considered to include di­ rect action such as land-use changes, consumptive use of water, physical operations on river systems, addition of contaminants of various kinds, as well as those of a more indirect nature such as, for example, man-in­ duced climate changes. These studies also include the effect of changes in the hydrological cycle on social, environmental and ecological aspects relative to water resources. The studies executed in the framework of the IHP will result in the synthesis of existing knowledge, guidance material for the execution of national studies, teaching notes and public information material. Publi­ cations issued in this area include: - Man's Influence on the Hydrological Cycle" (with FAO) - Hydrological Effects of Urbanization and Industrialization on Water Resources Planning and Management - Casebook on Methods of Computation of Quantitative Changes in the Hydrological Regime of River Basins due to Human Activities - Aquifer Contaminants and Protection - Hydrological Problems related to the Development of Energy - Study of the Relationship between Water Quality and Sediment Transport -Th eHydrologica lRegim ea sinfluence db yth eDrainag eo fWetland s -Investigatio no fth eWate rRegim eo fRive rBasin saffecte db y Irrigation -Hydro-environmenta lIndices ,a Revie wan dEvaluatio no fthei rUs ei n theAssessmen to fth eEnvironmenta l Impacto fWate rProjects . UNEP'swate rprogramm e isfocusse do nth eEnvironmentall y SoundManage ­ mento fInlan dWate r (EMINWA).Thi sprogramm e isdesigne dt oassis tgo ­ vernmentst ointegrat eenvironmenta lconsideration s intoth emanagemen t anddevelopmen to finlan dwaters ,wit ha vie wt oreconcilin gan densurin g thedevelopmen to fwate rresource s inharmon ywit hth ewater-relate d(na ­ turalan dman-made )environmen tthroughou tentir ewate rsystems .I tcon ­ tributest oa harmoniou srive rbasi ndevelopmen tan dt oa sustainabl ere ­ gionaldevelopment . Themai nactivitie so fth eEMINW Aprogramm eare : (a)t oassis tgovernment st odevelop ,approv ean dimplemen tenvironmen ­ tallysoun dwate rmanagemen tprogramme s inrive rbasin sb yinlan d waterprojects ; (b)t oprepar ea manua lo fprinciple san dguideline s forth eenviron ­ mentallysoun dmanagemen to finlan dwater ; (c)t ous eth eEMINW Ainlan dwate rbasin sfo rdemonstratio npurposes ; (d)t otrai nexpert san dimplemen ta ninstitution-buildin gprogramme ; (e)t omak eregula rworld-wid eassessment so fth estat eo fth e environment ininlan dwate rsystems . Besidesthi spublicatio no nth eclassificatio no fsurfac ewate rbodie s theUNEP/Unesc oprojec t "IntegratedEnvironmenta lEvaluatio no fWate rRe ­ sourcesDevelopment" ,issue di n1987 ,a repor tentitle d "Methodological Guidelines forth eIntegrate dEnvironmenta lEvaluatio no fWate rResource s Development"i nEnglish ,Frenc han dSpanish ,an di n198 8a teachin gguid e inEnglis hfo rth eus eo fth emethodolog y forth eevaluation . Eachwate rresource sdevelopmen tprojec tdiffer sfro mal lothe rwate r resourcesproject san dn osituatio nis ,a tfirs tsight ,comparabl et o another.Difference s inclimate ,morpholog yo fth erive rbasin ,geology , soilstructure ,lan duse ,vegetation ,ecology ,etc .ar esuc htha ti teve n appearsdifficul tt ocompar eth eenvironmenta l statuso fundevelope dri ­ vers. Itwa sfelt ,therefore ,tha ta hydro-environmenta lclassificatio no f waterbodie swoul db euseful ,i nth efirs tplace ,t omak e itpossibl et o useknowledg eobtaine dunde rdifferen tcircumstance s tosystematicall y increaseth ebod yo fknowledg eo nquestion srelate d toth eenvironmenta l statuso fwate rbodies .I twoul dals omak epossibl eth eevaluation so f thehydro-ecologica lstatu so fwate rbodie sa scompare dt oothe rones , andmak e itpossibl et omor eeasil yestablis hadministrativ ean dlega l standardsfo rth edifferen twate rbodie si na country . Theidea lclassificatio nsyste mwoul dfulfi lal lthes erequirements , wouldb erobus ti nth esens etha ta wate rbod ynormall ywoul dremai ni n thesam ecategor yan di twoul db eeas yt ounderstan dan dt ous eb yengi ­ neersan dplanner swh od ono thav ea specialize dknowledg e ofhydro-bio ­ logy. Iti sprobabl y impossible,an dcertainl yunwieldy ,t odesig na detai ­ ledclassificatio no nth ebasi so fth eabov erequirement swhic hwoul dco ­ veral lpossibl esituation s inth eworld .O nth eothe rhand ,i ti s thoughttha ta firs tapproac hclassificatio no nth ebasi so fphysica lva ­ riableswoul db egloball yvalid ,woul dno tb econtradictor y toexistin g classifications already inus ean dwoul dallo wfo raddition sbase do nre ­ gionalo rloca lconditions . Asstate d inth efirs tparagrap ho fthi schapte rth epropose dclassi ­ ficationan dth eothe r informationi nthi spublicatio n isno tmean ta s thefina lwor do nth esubject .I ti sope nt odiscussio nan dcritica lcom ­ ments. Suggestion sfo rchange san dimprovement sar ewelcom ean dwil lb e usedi nth epreparatio no fa secon dversio no fth edocument . Pleasesen dyou rcomments/suggestion s toth eDirecto ro fth eDivisio n ofWate rSciences ,Unesco ,7 Plac ed eFontenoy ,7570 0Paris ,France . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thisrepor ti spar to fth eUNEP/Unesc oprojec tFP/5201/85-0 1 "IntegratedEnvironmenta lEvaluatio no fWate rResource sDevelopment" . Ia mgratefu lfo rth ecomment so fth e (other)member so fth eScientifi c ExportGrou pfo rthi sproject ,Prof .Dr .L .Hartman n (chairman),H.C . Torno (whocorrecte dth eenglis hversion) ,Dr .I .Bogardi ,Drs .P . Leentvaar,Ir .F.H .Verhoo gan dL .Davi d (theUNE Pprogramm eofficer) . Manyfigure san dtable shav ebee ntake nfro mbooks ,an dsom efro m journals.Al lpublisher shav egive nthei rpermissio nfo rreproduction , whichi sacknowledge dher ewit hgratitude . INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Thisrepor tpresent sa worldwid eclassificatio no fsurfac ewaters .Th e diversityo fwate rtype si simmens ean dan yattemp tt obrin gsom eorde r tothi sdiversit y invariablyconfront sa multitud eo fexceptions .Th e resultingrepor ttherefor e isa noversimplificatio no freality ,base d uponlimite d informationan dleanin gheavil yo nresearc hdat afro m temperateregions . Despiteth eendles svariet yo fwate rtype scertai nlaw san d regularitiesca nb eobserve dan dthes efor mth ebod yo fth e classification.Loca lclimatologica lan dbiogeographica l circumstances willrequir eadaptation san dfillin gi no fth esystem .Thes eadaptation s shouldb emad eonl yb yloca lexperts . Thisrepor tindicate sa numbe ro fpossibl eadaptation san dgive s examplesfro mdifferen tarea si nth eworld .Extensiv eliteratur elist s whichprovid efurthe rdetail so nal laspect so fth eclassificatio nsyste m havebee nincluded .Th efirs tchapte rgive sa nelementa lclassificatio n withleadin