REVIEW article
Front. Water
Sec. Water and Built Environment
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frwa.2025.1702212
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrating Science and Policy for Water-Sensitive Urban Planning in Climate-Impacted CitiesView all 4 articles
From Effluent to Algal Bloom: Linking Wastewater Infrastructure, Nutrient Enrichment, and Ecosystem Stress in a Semi-Enclosed Desert Sea
Provisionally accepted
- 1New York University Abu Dhabi Water Research Center, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- 2Marine Biology Lab, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- 3Mubadala Arabian Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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ABSTRACT Municipal wastewater discharge has emerged as the dominant driver of coastal eutrophication in the Persian/Arabian Gulf, distinguishing the region from most marine basins where agricultural runoff prevails. This paper synthesizes data on nutrient loads, eutrophication symptoms and wastewater governance across the eight Gulf nations, drawing on a combination of national reporting, published literature, and long-term coastal monitoring records. The findings reveal that untreated or insufficiently treated municipal effluents contribute the majority of anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus input to Gulf waters, with agricultural sources playing only a minor role. Symptoms of eutrophication, such as harmful algal blooms, hypoxia and ecosystem degradation, have become increasingly frequent and spatially widespread. These impacts are particularly pronounced in semi-enclosed, poorly flushed lagoons and bays common to many parts of the Gulf, where anthropogenic nutrient enrichment coincides with elevated biological and physical vulnerability. Despite these trends, regulatory standards for wastewater treatment remain inconsistent across the region, and infrastructure upgrades have not kept pace with population growth and urban expansion. Addressing wastewater-driven eutrophication in the Gulf will require a coordinated regional response that includes harmonized effluent standards, strategic investment in tertiary treatment, and improved monitoring and data sharing. By identifying key knowledge gaps and management priorities, this paper provides a regional framework to support evidence-based policymaking and reduce the long-term ecological and socio-economic consequences of coastal nutrient enrichment.
Keywords: Wastewater discharge, harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, biodiversity loss, semi-enclosed seas
Received: 09 Sep 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gastoldi, Al-Gergawi and Burt. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lucia Gastoldi, lucia.gastoldi@nyu.edu
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