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Land Use and Water Quality Along a Mekong Tributary in Northern Lao P.D.R.

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Abstract

Improving access to clean water has the potential to make a major contribution toward poverty reduction in rural communities of Lao P.D.R. This study focuses on stream water quality along a Mekong basin tributary, the Houay Xon that flows within a mountainous, mosaic land-use catchment of northern Lao P.D.R. To compare direct water quality measurements to the perception of water quality within the riparian population, our survey included interviews of villagers. Water quality was found to vary greatly depending on the location along the stream. Overall, it reflected the balance between the stream self-cleaning potential and human pressure on the riparian zone: (i) high bacteria and suspended load levels occurred where livestock are left to free-range within the riparian zone; (ii) very low oxygen content and high bacteriological contamination prevailed downstream from villages; (iii) high concentrations of bacteria were consistently observed along urbanized banks; (iv) low oxygen content were associated with the discharge of organic-rich wastewater from a small industrial plant; (v) very high suspended load and bacteria levels occurred during flood events due to soil erosion from steep cultivated hill slopes. Besides these human induced pollutions we also noted spontaneous enrichments in metals in wetland areas fed by dysoxic groundwater. These biophysical measurements were in agreement with the opinions expressed by the majority of the interviewees who reported poor and decreasing water quality in the Houay Xon catchment. Based on our survey, we propose recommendations to improve or maintain stream water quality in the uplands of northern Lao P.D.R.

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Acknowledgments

The present work is part of MSEC (Management of Soil Erosion Consortium) in Lao P.D.R., a joint scientific programme involving NAFRI (National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute), IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement) and IWMI (International Water Management Institute). It was supported by DRV (Département des Ressources Vivantes) of IRD, CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture) through the PES (Payment for Environmental Services) program in Lao P.D.R. and GIS Climat-Environnement-Société through the PASTEK project. Special thanks to A. Noble and D. Bossio (IWMI) for their support and the internal review of this manuscript. We also thank L. K. Gebbie for the extremely useful work on the English manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UPS (OMP)—CNRS—UMR 5563 LMTG, Université de Toulouse, 14 Av Edouard Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Olivier Ribolzi

  2. International Water Management Institute, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute, c/o French Embassy, PO 06, Vientiane, Lao P.D.R.

    Juliette Cuny, Phonexay Sengsoulichanh, Claire Mousquès, Bounsamai Soulileuth & Alain Pierret

  3. UMR 7618 BIOEMCO, Université Pierre and Marie Curie, Case 120, tour 56, couloir 56-66, 4éme étage, 75252, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Sylvain Huon

  4. Agricultural Land Research Centre, National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute Nongviengkham, PO 7170, Xaythany District, Vientiane, Lao P.D.R.

    Oloth Sengtaheuanghoung

Authors
  1. Olivier Ribolzi
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  2. Juliette Cuny
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  3. Phonexay Sengsoulichanh
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  4. Claire Mousquès
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  6. Alain Pierret
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  7. Sylvain Huon
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  8. Oloth Sengtaheuanghoung
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Correspondence to Olivier Ribolzi.

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Ribolzi, O., Cuny, J., Sengsoulichanh, P. et al. Land Use and Water Quality Along a Mekong Tributary in Northern Lao P.D.R.. Environmental Management 47, 291–302 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-010-9593-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-010-9593-0

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