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Massive land system changes impact water quality of the Jhelum River in Kashmir Himalaya

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Abstract

The pristine aquatic ecosystems in the Himalayas are facing an ever increasing threat from various anthropogenic pressures which necessitate better understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of pollutants, their sources, and possible remedies. This study demonstrates the multi-disciplinary approach utilizing the multivariate statistical techniques, data from remote sensing, lab, and field-based observations for assessing the impact of massive land system changes on water quality of the river Jhelum. Land system changes over a period of 38 years have been quantified using multi-spectral satellite data to delineate the extent of different anthropogenically driven land use types that are the main non-point sources of pollution. Fifteen water quality parameters, at 12 sampling sites distributed uniformly along the length of the Jhelum, have been assessed to identify the possible sources of pollution. Our analysis indicated that 18 % of the forested area has degraded into sparse forest or scrublands from 1972 to 2010, and the areas under croplands have decreased by 24 % as people shifted from irrigation-intensive agriculture to orchard farming while as settlements showed a 397 % increase during the observation period. One-way ANOVA revealed that all the water quality parameters had significant spatio-temporal differences (p < 0.01). Cluster analysis (CA) helped us to classify all the sampling sites into three groups. Factor analysis revealed that 91.84 % of the total variance was mainly explained by five factors. Drastic changes in water quality of the Jhelum since the past three decades are manifested by increases in nitrate-nitrogen, TDS, and electric conductivity. The especially high levels of nitrogen (858 ± 405 μgL−1) and phosphorus (273 ± 18 μgL−1) in the Jhelum could be attributed to the reckless application of fertilizers, pesticides, and unplanned urbanization in the area.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to USGS and CGIAR for providing the satellite data and digital elevation model free for use to general public. We also express our gratitude to the anonymous reviewers whose suggestions improved the manuscript structure and content.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India

    Mohmmad Irshad Rather & Irfan Yousuf Shah

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India

    Irfan Rashid, Khalid Omar Murtaza & Shakil Ahmad Romshoo

  3. Center of Research for Development, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India

    Nuzhat Shahi & Khalida Hassan

  4. Expert Member, National Green Tribunal, Government of India, New Delhi, India

    Abdul Rehman Yousuf

Authors
  1. Mohmmad Irshad Rather
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  2. Irfan Rashid
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  3. Nuzhat Shahi
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  4. Khalid Omar Murtaza
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  5. Khalida Hassan
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  6. Abdul Rehman Yousuf
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  7. Shakil Ahmad Romshoo
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  8. Irfan Yousuf Shah
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Correspondence to Irfan Rashid.

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This manuscript is submitted for publication in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

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Rather, M.I., Rashid, I., Shahi, N. et al. Massive land system changes impact water quality of the Jhelum River in Kashmir Himalaya. Environ Monit Assess 188, 185 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5190-x

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