What is it about?
Protection of surface water quality is a key driver in catchment management, particularly for areas undergoing land use change. Changing land use can result in the input of a range of pollutants to surface waters, resulting in water quality impairment, leading to eutrophication and the appearance of algae blooms. This study investigated a mixed land use coastal catchment by undertaking extensive field sampling and data analysis for pollutant source characterisation.
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Why is it important?
The research study entailed extensive field sampling and data analysis for characterising surface water pollutant sources in a mixed land use coastal catchment. The generic knowledge created on pollutant source characterisation will contribute to a greater understanding of pollutant inputs to surface water resources and for the creation of effective catchment management strategies for vulnerable receiving water environments. Based on the study outcomes and the prevention of algae blooms as the focus, a critical point monitoring program is presented. This allows the implementation of a resource-efficient monitoring program to assess critical pollutant parameters at key locations to underpin the development of an effective decentralised catchment management strategy for safeguarding water quality.
Perspectives
The research study investigated the surface water quality characteristics in a mixed land use coastal catchment in order to characterise the pollutant sources. A diversity of pollutant sources was identified, including both, natural areas and areas with relevant anthropogenic activities. The pollutant inputs from these sources are significantly influenced by factors related to seasons such as rainfall runoff. This underlines the importance of taking seasonal factors into account in the development of an effective catchment management strategy. Based on the focus of preventing algae blooms, a critical point monitoring (CPM) program was developed to demonstrate how an effective catchment management strategy can be undertaken by identifying critical locations and key pollutant parameters.
Professor Ashantha Goonetilleke
Queensland University of Technology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Monitoring of a mixed land use catchment for pollutant source characterisation, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, June 2017, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s10661-017-6047-7.
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