World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2019
Impact of Point and Nonpoint Sources on Nutrient Levels and Algal Pollution in Lake Erhai in China
Publication: World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2019: Groundwater, Sustainability, Hydro-Climate/Climate Change, and Environmental Engineering
ABSTRACT
As in many of China’s freshwater lakes, Lake Erhai’s water level and surface area have been seriously affected by human activity in recent decades. Eutrophication is a major long-term water quality problem and it is thus essential to understand the underlying mechanisms, identify pollution sources, and analyze the factors governing the nutrient levels and the formation of the algal contaminants. This study investigated various factors affecting the fate and transport of chlorophyll-a and nitrogen and phosphorous related species, focusing on the correlations between these factors and variations in the contaminant levels. Total phosphorus was found to be the determining factor, with non-point sources being responsible for the majority of the total phosphorus in the lake. These findings indicate that establishing artificial wetlands, which are known to be an effective way to remove phosphorus nutrients from non-point sources, around the lake’s periphery could improve the lake’s water quality considerably.
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Acknowledge
Thanks to Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences for the valuable data.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2019: Groundwater, Sustainability, Hydro-Climate/Climate Change, and Environmental Engineering
Pages: 87 - 97
Editors: Gregory F. Scott and William Hamilton, Ph.D.
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8234-6
Copyright
© 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: May 16, 2019
Published in print: May 16, 2019
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