River mouths

The subprogramme provides an annual overview of the environmental status of Sweden’s largest rivers and forms the basis for official statistics. The status assessments of the rivers are used to follow up on environmental quality objectives and for international reporting, such as nutrient load calculations to the Helsinki Convention (HELCOM).

The calculations from the River Mouths Subprogramme are an important tool in efforts to reduce marine pollution and to assess environmental threats.

Sampling

Within the subprogramme, water chemistry samples are collected on a monthly basis.

Scope of the Subprogramme

The River Mouths Subprogramme monitors the 47 largest watercourses that flow from Sweden into either the Baltic Sea or the Skagerrak/Kattegat. One monitoring station is located at the estuary of each river. These river basins vary in size from approximately 100 to 48,000 km².

The River Mouths Subprogramme differs from the closely related Trend River Stations Subprogramme in its exclusive focus on water chemistry, while the trend stations include both chemical and biological sampling. Moreover, the River Mouths Subprogramme targets larger rivers than those covered by the trend stations.

History of the Subprogramme

The River Mouths Programme began in the 1960s, and many of the monitoring stations have maintained uninterrupted data series since then. These long-term time series are particularly valuable for tracking the impacts of climate change and for making predictions about future environmental developments.

Responsibilities Within the Subprogramme

The Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment is responsible for implementing the programme and is also the data host. River Mouths is a subprogramme within the Freshwater area of Sweden’s national environmental monitoring programme and is funded by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management.