Temporal Dynamics of Land Use and Water Quality in Three Sub-Catchments of the Rur River, Germany

Sristika Adhikari

doi:10.4236/gep.2020.88004

Abstract

The Rur catchment has over time undergone land use change which could have affected the biogeochemical processes of the river. Three sub-catchments in the Rur, Upper Rur, Inde and Wurm have different kinds of land use. Upper Rur is more natural catchment; Inde is mixed type and Wurm is highly modified by anthropogenic activities. This study investigated how land use changes from 2000 to 2018 have influenced SO4 and Cl dynamics in the Rur catchment. Land use maps were developed in QGIS environment for land use change calculation. Historical water quality data were collected from the online public source by Ministry of Environment and Nature Conservation in Germany. R-software was used for statistical analysis and graphical presentation. Less land use change was observed in the Upper Rur between 2000 to 2018. But in the Inde and Wurm decrease in agricultural land and associated increase in industrial, commercial and urban land were observed. Increase in mining area inside the catchment has enhanced the level of SO4 and EC in the Inde river. Conversion rates of natural to human dominated land use could be quantified in this study through land use change mapping, which will further help in making water management plan for these and comparable German and European catchments. However, high quality historical data set is a key requirement to maximize the output in process of relating impact of land use change in water quality.

Highlights

IntroductionAfter the Second World War, there was a rapid population growth in European countries, which caused expansion of urban areas, intensification in agriculture and development of large chemical and electrical industries
Lower values were observed in Upper Rur which is more natural catchment and higher values were observed in the Wurm, where
From the observation of land use maps of 2000 and 2018, it can be concluded that land use change is happening in different parts of the Upper Rur, Inde and Wurm

Summary

Introduction

After the Second World War, there was a rapid population growth in European countries, which caused expansion of urban areas, intensification in agriculture and development of large chemical and electrical industries. This helped to develop large cities in Meuse river basin (Tu et al, 2005; Lambin & Gheist, 2006). The Rur River, one of the tributaries to the Meuse River, has undergone land use land cover change (LULCC) which might influence in stream hydro-chemical processes of the Rur River (Rodolfo et al, 2018).

Results

Discussion

Conclusion