Beach wrack is a specific problem. It is both ecological problem for eutrophicated reservoirs such as the Baltic Sea and the social one associated with nuisance for inhabitants and tourists visiting seaside resorts. This generates a problem for institutions responsible for beach management (local...

Urban runoff appears to be a pathway for transferring new emerging pollutants from land-based sources to the aquatic environment. This paper aimed to identify and describe the groups of pollutants present in rainwater surface runoff as well as their mixture with wastewater in the combined sewer system from urbanized catchments and to determine the correlations between these pollutants. Four leading groups of new emerging pollutants have been identified that may be present in rainwater and municipal wastewater mixtures. The samples were tested for microplastics, phthalic acid esters, pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as well as basic parameters. The pilot site was Słupsk (northwestern Poland). We conducted nine sampling campaigns at three points. The results of the present study revealed that (i) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were not present in the tested samples; (ii) the selected organochlorine pesticides were detected during one campaign in the dry season and therefore were not of critical importance; (iii) out of the 11 analyzed phthalic acid esters, five selected substances released from commonly used plastic products were present; and (iv) the number of microplastics contained in the tested samples ranged from 1,400 to 14,036 pcs/L and even occurred during pure rainfall.

One of the most severe climate risks that is expected to affect all regions is related to stormwater. Climate models, constructed based on long-term trends, show that extreme weather events such as storms, cloudbursts and a large rise in sea level will be significant in the coming decades. Moreover, even the frequency and intensity of "normal" rainfall events, such as microbursts, are expected to be remarkably higher than today in some regions. The efficiency of urban drainage systems is affected by the land use in its whole catchment. In addition to the climate stress, there is ongoing continuous densification of urban space, resulting in more buildings and larger areas being covered with impervious surfaces. Planning decisions today approving such compaction do not consider the impacts beyond the close proximity of the land parcel. As a result, by following the current planning practices, cities are becoming extremely vulnerable to stormwater flooding (flash floods). This study presents a holistic and dynamic planning method - the Extreme Weather Layer (EWL) - that makes it possible to analyse the impact of a single development (e.g. paving a gravel parking lot with asphalt or turning an area of urban greenery into a shopping centre) on the performance of the urban drainage system and therefore on the flooding risk of the whole catchment. The EWL is based on a widely accepted drainage modelling engine coupled with GIS system and other databases which provide spatial information. Thus, the EWL combined with the systemic approach of turning from grey to green infrastructure could be a smart tool for implementing NBS solutions for stormwater management in climate adaptation in urban areas. This smart tool could indicate how much more green infrastructure is needed and which places in the city the mitigative NBS measures would help significantly.