JMarinas: A simple tool for the environmentally sound management of small marinas J.A. Mensa a, b, * , P. Vassallo a , M. Fabiano a a DIPTERIS, Department for the Study of Territory and its Resources, University of Genova, Corso Europa 26,16132 Genova, Italy b RSMAS/MPO, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149-1098, USA article info Article history: Received 4 June 2009 Received in revised form 4 July 2010 Accepted 7 August 2010 Available online 15 September 2010 Keywords: Small marinas Mediterranean Sea Environmental quality EDSS MADM Water quality Fuzzy logic abstract A novel index for the preliminary evaluation of the distribution of pollutants in the harbor environ- ment (Small Marinas Pollution Risk) is proposed. An associated Environmental Decision Support System (JMarinas) has been developed which implements the Multiple Attribute Decision Making theory (MADM) and uses the harbor’s map as geographical support for computations. The MADM matrix is built considering various attributes of the marina and is calculated using both qualitative and quantitative data. Jmarinas has been applied to two small marinas along the Ligurian coast (Marina degli Aregai and Portosole) during the winter and summer seasons. Results show good spatial and temporal resolution and are in agreement with observations. For further quantitative assessment of performance, we refer to Irene et al. (2010). Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Harbors are generally enclosed areas characterized by high levels of pollution both in water and sediment compartments. In recent years, human and environmental risks due to poor water and sediment quality within harbor ecosystems are becoming increasingly significant (Jiang and Falconer, 1983; Salvo et al., 2005, these include 1) chemical risks associated with the presence of toxic contaminants, 2) hypertrophicedystrophic risks owing to high organic matter concentrations leading to anoxia and 3) sanitary risk linked with the proliferation of pathogens in the water body or in harbor sediments. The high risk of environmental issues onset leads to the set up of monitoring programs most often focused on the evaluation of chemical enrichment of the water body and usually planned considering the harbor as a homogeneous water body. Nonetheless environmental disturbance in harbors may vary rapidly in intensity and typology over small spatial scales, owing to several factors including the position and magnitude of pollution sources (Estacio et al., 1997; Moreno et al., 2008). At this purpose the identification of areas of different levels of environmental risk may be a useful primary step for the environ- mental quality assessment and for the development of environ- mentally sound management practices (i.e., monitoring schemes planning). However, these last are generally planned after an environ- mental crisis event has occurred and are thus focused on specific areas of marinas. Otherwise, if a preventive monitoring program is foreseen sophisticated methods requiring experts and huge time spending are applied (i.e., evaluation of water circulation, small scale sample analysis). At this purpose we developed a simple routine for the risk evaluation of different areas of the harbor toward the identification of critical environmental situations. Small marinas pollution risk (hereinafter SMPR for the sake of brevity) was quantified by means of a simple computational process that accounts for specific morphological features of the harbor (as an indirect measurement of water stagnancy) and the position, size, and typology of pollution sources (as a measure of the potential local impact). SMPR was hence defined as the sensitivity of the environment to change in a negative direction as a result of human activity or as a consequence of the morphological features of the harbor. Aiming at a quick and simple evaluation of SMPR we deve- loped an Environmental Decision Support System (called JMarinas), able to perform a preliminary SMPR assessment thanks to the * Corresponding author. RSMAS/MPO, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149-1098, USA. Tel.: þ1 786 371 72 69. E-mail address: jmensa@rsmas.miami.edu (J.A. Mensa). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Environmental Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman 0301-4797/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.08.003 Journal of Environmental Management 92 (2011) 67e77