Mapping the environmental risk associated to water quality of marinas in Portugal

The growth of tourism and demographic pressure along the Portuguese coast is accompanied by an increasing demand for nautical recreational activities, which has a negative impact on water quality. This study aims to provide decision-makers, such as government agencies and harbor managers, with scientifically-based information to manage marinas and neighboring waterfronts. The goal is to balance environmental protection with economic and social objectives. The assessment follows the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model, integrating environmental pressures, conditions, and societal responses in the following sequence: (a) build a database with information necessary to determine the environmental impacts of identified pressure activities, such as navigation, port operations, dredging, oil pollution, coastal litter, and nearby industrial activities; (b) identify specific environmental conditions at each marina by mapping and evaluating susceptibility, ecological value, and naturalness using Geographic Information Systems tools; (c) consider locally implemented management strategies to mitigate or prevent negative environmental effects from human pressures; and (d) establish risk thresholds, categorize pressures, states, and responses, and map spatial variations of risk factors. This approach, originally proposed to evaluate the environmental risk of marinas along the Spanish coast, is now being extended to 27 marinas along the west and south Portuguese coast. The resulting maps visually compare risks across different marinas, facilitating the analysis of the effectiveness of operational management measures and instruments. This aids stakeholders and decision-makers in establishing priorities for intervention plans aimed at enhancing water quality.  This work was funded by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) I.P./MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) –UIDB/50019/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/50019/2020),UIDP/50019/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/50019/2020) andLA/P/0068/2020(https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0068/2020).