Evolution of nutrient export under urban development in areas affected by shallow watertable

Surface water quality in catchments undergoing urbanisation may be affected by the release of pre-existing (or legacy) solutes, such as nutrients, as well as new sources associated with urban land use. This paper examines both for a number of urbanisation scenarios and adopting the modelling capability developed for the analysis of urbanisation effects on catchment water balance. The flat relief of the study catchment and its sandy soils, in combination with a Mediterranean-type climate, lead to large rates of diffuse gross recharge and diffuse (evaporative) discharge with low overall runoff from the catchment (