Assessment of the Biological Water Status: Macrophytes

Within the National Surface Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NAWA), water quality is recorded jointly by the federal and cantonal authorities at around 100 monitoring stations. The biological water status is assessed on the basis of macrophyte investigations by the Canton of Zurich method (www.gewaesserqualitaet.zh.ch/fg_methoden [only available in German]). Macrophytes (aquatic plants) such as vascular plants, mosses and algae detectable with the naked eye record the conditions prevailing in the water due to their immobility and long lifetimes. They indicate the overall environmental status, particularly the hydraulic-structural conditions in the water.