Methodology for Determining the Key Factors for Non-Point Source Management

Abstract

Due to the growing significance of water quality degradation by non-point source (NPS) pollution, regions in which NPS management is required should be designated as the management areas. Relevant management measures should be established to control water quality items related to degradation. It is advantageous that the area where the water environment is negatively affected by NPS is provided with legal grounds for NPS management, namely the designation of an NPS management area. This is because if it is designated as an NPS management area, the government can support the budget necessary for the installation of non-point pollution reduction facilities. In order to effectively utilize the limited budget, it is necessary to select and concentrate the area that should be managed first in the NPS management area. For the efficiency of the NPS pollution management within a management region, priority locations or key management sub-regions should be determined to implement differential management plans. Also, in selecting priority management regions, evaluation factors that can reflect the effects of NPS, such as the water quality target excess ratio in the mid-level region (or the total maximum daily load (TMDL) management) which includes the target region (low-level region), the NPS load in land, and non-permeable area ratio, should be quantified and the management order should be defined. Since NPS has local characteristics, the management items should be determined based on turbidity, suspended solid (SS), or total phosphorus (TP) that affect the local water quality. When the water environment is polluted due to non-point pollutants, various materials such as turbidity, SS, TP, Escherichia coli, and heavy metals can be set as management items according to local characteristics. However, the most important items to be managed are turbidity, SS, and TP, because if the solid (SS) is present in the water, which is highly turbid and does not sink easily, people can feel unpleasant and feel that the water is not clean, even if they do not analyze the water quality. In addition, in the case of TP, nutrients accumulated in the land are introduced into the river by rainfall, causing eutrophication. People feel uncomfortable because it changes the water color. Other pollutants can only be found to be contaminated after water quality analysis is performed. The water quality target of the management items should be set realistically, based on the situation of the watershed by considering the watershed model, management flow, NPS pollutant reduction plan, the river flow in the management area, and load. All these reflect the characteristics of the region. To evaluate whether the water quality target is achieved after NPS management, a method similar to the one to set the water quality target should be used to review the performance of the management plan. This study introduces specific examples of key factors in establishing an NPS management plan, including consideration factors and methods for the designation of NPS management regions, consideration factors and the selection method for key management areas within a management region, the selection method of management items, the selection method of the water quality target, and an evaluation method of the water quality target.