Development of standards for assessing water quality in marine coastal waters of Bahrain

Marine coastal waters of Bahrain are under pressure due to human activities and climate change. We used marine monitoring data (2005-2020) from 27 sites to establish baseline conditions and develop standards for assessments of water quality. Five hydrodynamic regions were identified: Oyster Beds, North, West, East, East (Coastal). Data from Oyster Beds sites, likely to be less impacted by human activities, were used to determine baseline conditions. For most parameters, candidate thresholds were based on 50 % and 100 % variation from baseline and 95th percentiles. Comparisons of data against different thresholds showed different outcomes. Overall, results indicate good water quality, with potential concerns in East (Coastal). Trend analyses showed some significant trends in all regions: downward (favourable) for some parameters (e.g. turbidity: North) and upward for others (e.g. nitrate: Oyster Beds, East and East (Coastal)). Future work requires greater understanding around optimum guidelines that protect and mitigate any adverse ecological impacts.