Substantial damage to surface water in the context of environmental crimes

Water resources are very important for maintaining an adequate food supply and a productive environment for all living organisms. However, illicit activities can pose a severe threat to water quality and subsequently its uses through pollution with heavy metals, petroleum-derived oils, organic substances, pathogenic microorganisms, etc. Environmental crimes rank fourth among international illicit activities after drug trafficking, counterfeiting of currency and art, and trafficking of human beings and the intentional pollution of water is one of the three most common types of water crimes identified in European countries. Assessing and measuring water damage is challenging due to the complexity of water resources, including hydrogeological and hydromorphological characteristics, water uses, ecosystem services and other characteristics. Therefore, this study portrays the development of a conceptual framework supported by multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques to determine an index to quantify the magnitude of water damage (surface water) caused by a suspected illicit act (release of chemical products or waste disposal containing chemicals or other deposition, including agro-industrial or agricultural waste or by-products) and verify its feasibility through assessment of two case studies.