Abstract
Abstract. The Upper Ganga River basin is socioeconomically the most important river basin in India and is highly stressed in terms of water resources due to uncontrolled land use and land cover (LULC) activities. This study presents a comprehensive set of analyses to evaluate the population growth, LULC transformations, and water quality nexus for sustainable development in this river basin. The study was conducted at two spatial scales: basin scale and district scale. First, population data were analyzed statistically to study demographic changes, followed by LULC change detection over the period of February–March 2001 to 2012 (Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data) using remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) techniques. Trends and spatiotemporal variations in monthly water quality parameters, viz. biological oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO, measured in percentage), fluoride (F), hardness (CaCO3), pH, total coliform bacteria and turbidity, were studied using the Mann–Kendall rank test and an overall index of pollution (OIP) developed specifically for this region, respectively. A relationship was deciphered between LULC classes and OIP using multivariate techniques, viz. Pearson's correlation and multiple linear regression. From the results, it was observed that population has increased in the river basin. Therefore, significant and characteristic LULC changes were observed. The river became polluted in both rural and urban areas. In rural areas, pollution is due to agricultural practices, mainly fertilizers, whereas in urban areas it is mainly contributed from domestic and industrial wastes. Water quality degradation has occurred in the river basin, and consequently the health status of the river has also changed from acceptable to slightly polluted in urban areas. Multiple linear regression models developed for the Upper Ganga River basin could successfully predict status of the water quality, i.e., OIP, using LULC classes.
Highlights
Water quality is defined in terms of chemical, physical and biological characteristics of the water
Analysis of the population dataset of the years 2001 and 2011 acquired from Census of India, Government of India (GoI), reveals that in the Upper Ganga River basin (UGRB), out of the 77 districts that fall in four different states, viz. Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Himanchal Pradesh, total population and population growth rate (PGR) has increased in 74 districts
Sustainable water resources planning and management by policy makers and planners require an understanding of the nexus between components of population growth, land use and land cover (LULC) transformations and water quality at both regional and local scales
Summary
Water quality is defined in terms of chemical, physical and biological (bacteriological) characteristics of the water. Demographic changes, anthropogenic activities and urbanization are potential drivers affecting the quantity and quality of available water resources on local, regional and global scales. They pose a threat to the quantity and quality of water resources, directly by increased anthropogenic water demands and water pollution. Urbanization occurs due to natural population growth and migration of people from rural to urban areas due to economic hardship (Bjorklund et al, 2011; Shukla and Gedam, 2018) It may change natural landscape characteristics and river morphometry and increase pollutant load in water bodies. In order to increase crop yield, farmers introduce various chemicals in the form of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc., causing addition of pollutants to the river
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