Water quality of runoff from agricultural-forestry watersheds in the Geum River Basin, Korea

Abstract

Forestry and agricultural land uses constitute 85% of Korea and these land uses are typically mixed in many watersheds. Land cover is one of the most important factors affecting diffuse pollution and water quality. The aim of this study is to estimate the pollutant concentrations in runoff from four study watersheds consisting of a mix of forestry and agricultural land uses at different ratios in the Geum River Basin. The effect of topographical variables was also considered. The ratio of agricultural land use to the total area of study watersheds was in the range of 0.01-0.36. Flow rate and water quality (suspended solids, organics and nutrients) of runoff from 40 rainfall events were monitored at the study watersheds. Descriptive statistics showed higher nutrients and organic concentrations in runoff from watershed with higher agricultural activities. Event Mean Concentration (EMC) of individual runoff event was calculated for each water quality constituent based on the flow rate and concentration data of runoff discharge, and arranged on a cumulative probability scale according to runoff occurrence. From the correlation analysis between EMC data and affecting variables, the ratio of agricultural land use to the total area was identified as the parameter that most affected the magnitude of EMC.