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- Point and diffuse sources of pollution in the Pilica catchment: An ecohydrological assessment as the first step for water resources managementPublication . Rios, Marina Victoria; Chícharo, Luís; Jarosiewicz, PawełWe face a growing threat of not achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030, including water security, which is crucial for ecosystems, human health and economic development. Growing challenges like pollution, over-extraction, climate change and poor management practices hinder our progress. Consequently, there is a growing need for new methods and approaches to demonstrate sustainable water management in practice. This is why, the Pilica River Catchment in Central Poland was recognized as one of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme Ecohydrology Demonstration Sites. This catchment faces multiple ecological challenges due to water pollution coming from both, point and diffuse sources. Following the first principle of ecohydrology, this study analyses the temporal and spatial dynamics of nutrient concentrations and loads as a first step for effective water resources management. By combining multiple statistical analysis, the study identifies the primary nutrient sources and the critical seasons for the dominance of different pollutants. Findings revealed that sub-catchments dominated by agricultural land exhibited higher nutrients, evidencing the impact of agriculture on water quality. Mainly, the impact of point sources for total phosphorus was observed during low flow seasons when the discharge share was higher and for total nitrogen during cold seasons, when the self-purification capacity of the streams was lower. These insights provide valuable contributions to the development of integrated river basin management plans, to boost the catchment’s sustainability potential, expressed by water, biodiversity, ecosystem services and resilience and implement further steps of ecohydrology to develop systemic solutions in the catchment scale.