In winter 2004/2005, 1532 Water Pipits were recorded during 37 censuses carried out along an established route on a sewage farm flooded with wastewater (Wrocław, SW Poland). Single birds were seen in nearly 39% of all 299 encounters, while the largest concentrations, between 16–28 individuals, accounted for 9%. 78% of all birds were observed on meadows flooded with communal wastewater. The remaining ones stayed around irrigation ditches (n = 172, 11.5%), sedimentation basins (n = 88, 5.9%) and reedbeds (n = 72, 4.8%). The mean size of the Water Pipit concentration was largest on the meadows (mean ± SE = 6.54 ± 0.50 individuals) and smallest at the sedimentation basins (mean = 1.44 ± 0.14). In this winter season (December-first half of March), rainfall enlarged numbers of birds to forage on the meadows, and the thickness of the snow cover was positively correlated with bird abundance at the sedimentation basins. The dominant available prey items inhabiting the warm wastewater were Diptera larvae (96%), 88% of which belonged to the genus Eristalis. The mean (± SD) invertebrate biomass was highest in the basin sediments (1.03 ± 1.14 g/dm³ of deposits), and lowest on the flooded meadows (0.20 ± 0.37 g/dm³ of deposits). The results point to the significance of the artificial environmental conditions created by warm sewage water, which enable the birds to remain largely independent of the weather and thus to overwinter in a cold region of central Europe.

Antimicrobial resistances (AMR) present an emerging concern in human and animal health policy, as well as in water policy as a consequence of the pollution of water resources by antibiotic substances stemming from manure and sewage treatment plants. In 2017, the European Commission passed an AMR Action Plan and urged member states to develop national action plans to coordinate action across human, animal and environmental health. Building on the literature on policy integration we conduct comparative case studies in order to explore how European countries address the AMR challenge and if policies respond to the cross-sectoral character of AMR. We find that policy integration varies across countries provide explanations for why this is the case and come to three main conclusions: Firstly, and confirming previous research, a pronounced executive capacity, the presence of green parties in parliament, and a consensus democracy are each necessary but not sufficient conditions in configurations leading to policy integration. Secondly, executive capacity only results in policy integration if there is no important agricultural sector articulating its interests. Thirdly, even if there is an important agricultural and/or livestock sector, green parties in parliament or consensus democracies can balance these interests towards a successful policy integration.

Fish occurring in the outlets of water basins reduce the abundance of zooplankton. The study was performed at the outlet sections of the lake and waste stabilization pond of a sewage treatment plant. The aim of the study was to determine which zooplankton is chosen more often by the roach (Rutilus rutilus), those drifting from the waste stabilization pond or from the lake. The zooplankton from the pond was dominated by Daphnia pulex while zooplankton from the lake was dominated by small planktonic rotifers. We observed that the larger the plankter-victim’s size, the faster the reduction of its number. The fish were more likely to feed on zooplankton drifting from the waste stabilization pond than from the lake. It was influenced by D. pulex individuals, attractive for fish due to their largest body size among the analyzed zooplankton. The significance of riverine zooplankton in the downstream food web may render this data even more important.

The shortage of water resources has become a notable bottleneck, restricting the economic development of many countries and areas around the word, especially that of North-west China. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shaanxi Province are important energy bases and food production areas in North-west China. However, the region is suffering from perennial drought and water shortage, which has become the most significant shortcoming for energy and food production. Guiding the decoupling between regional economic development and water consumption is a critical way to achieve sustainable development. Based on the analysis of the food and energy production value and their water consumption in North-west China from 2009 to 2019, this paper uses the Tapio model to analyze the decoupling relationship between food, energy production, and water consumption, and uses the Logarithmic Mean Divisional Index (LMDI) model to analyze the driving factors affecting decoupling. The results show that most water consumption for food and energy production in North-west China is out of the ideal strong decoupling, the decoupling status is unstable, and re-coupling occurs frequently. The increase in water intensity and the change in industrial structure are the promoting factors of decoupling between production value and water consumption in food and energy in North-west China, while the increase in production value and population size are the main restraining factors. Therefore, in pursuit of strong decoupling, the government should guide the food and energy industry to move toward implementing in water saving measures through policies and promote the enthusiasm and efficiency of the labor force through financial support and other ways. Moreover, ecological protective measures are needed to be strengthened, such as water source protection, and sewage treatment.