Seasonal and interannual changes (2005-2021) of lake water quality and the implications for sustainable management in a rapidly growing metropolitan region, central China

Hongjia Chen; Shenxin Zhao; Junlu Li; Linghan Zeng; Xu Chen

doi:10.1007/s11356-024-33618-x

Seasonal and interannual changes (2005-2021) of lake water quality and the implications for sustainable management in a rapidly growing metropolitan region, central China

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2024 May 17. doi: 10.1007/s11356-024-33618-x. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Hongjia Chen¹, Shenxin Zhao¹, Junlu Li¹, Linghan Zeng¹, Xu Chen²

Affiliations

¹ Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Ecology and Environmental Change, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430078, China.
² Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Ecology and Environmental Change, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430078, China. xuchen@cug.edu.cn.

PMID: 38758444
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-33618-x

Abstract

A series of restoration measures such as municipal wastewater treatment and aquaculture closures have been implemented in Wuhan City during recent years. In order to explore the impact of restoration measures and climate change on lake water quality, long-term (2005-2021) water quality data of 47 lakes were explored to reveal spatiotemporal changes in lake water quality. Percentages of polluted lakes were calculated according to six water-quality parameters, including total phosphorus (TP), ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand using potassium permanganate as oxidant (COD_Mn) and petroleum contamination (PET), at interannual and monthly timescales. At the interannual timescale, percentages of COD, BOD, COD_Mn and PET pollution decreased significantly, suggestive of water quality improvement during recent years. At the monthly timescale, low percentages of NH₃-N and BOD pollution in March 2020 probably resulted from the sharp reduction in human activities during the COVID-19 lockdown. At the monthly timescale, temperature was positively correlated with percentage of COD_Mn pollution, but negatively correlated with percentage of NH₃-N pollution; precipitation was negatively correlated with percentage of BOD pollution. The similarity of water-quality parameters generally decreased with an increase in geographical distance between each pair of lakes. However, the regression coefficients between the similarity of lake water quality and the geographical distance decreased with time, probably resulting from enhanced similarity of water quality parameters among all lakes with rapid urbanization. Our results highlight the importance of active restoration measures for sustainable management of lakes in Wuhan City, as well as in similar developing regions.

Keywords: Climate warming; Distance-decay rate; Ecological restoration; Internal nutrient cycling; The Yangtze River; Wuhan City.

Abstract

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