Analysis of the temporal and spatial distribution of water quality in China’s major river basins, and trends between 2005 and 2010

doi:10.1007/s11707-015-0498-3

Front. Earth Sci.

2015, Vol. 9

Issue (3) : 463-472 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-015-0498-3

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Analysis of the temporal and spatial distribution of water quality in China’s major river basins, and trends between 2005 and 2010

Jinjian LI¹, Xiaojie MENG^1,², Yan ZHANG¹(

), Juan LI¹, Linlin XIA¹, Hongmei ZHENG¹

¹. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
². Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China

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Abstract

In this study, based on environmental quality monitoring data on 22 pollutants from 490 control sections, we analyzed the spatial distribution and temporal changes of water quality in ten Chinese river basins (watersheds) to reveal the trends from 2005 to 2010. We used a comprehensive water pollution index (WPI) and the proportions of this index accounted for by the three major pollutants to analyze how economic development has influenced water quality. Higher values of the index represent more serious pollution. We found that WPI was much higher for the Hai River Basin (1.83 to 5.60 times the averages in other regions). In the Yangtze River Basin, WPI increased from upstream to downstream. The indices of some provinces toward the middle of a basin, such as Hebei Province in the Hai River Basin, Shanxi Province in the Yellow River Basin, and Anhui Province in the Huai River Basin, were higher than those of upstream and downstream provinces. In the Songhua, Liao, and Southeast river basins, WPI decreased during the study period: in 2010, it decreased by 33.9%, 44.3%, and 67.2%, respectively, compared with the 2005 value. In the Pearl River, Southwest, and Inland river basins, WPI increased by 23.1%, 47.7%, and 38.5% in 2010, compared with 2005. A comparison of WPI with the GDP of each province showed that the water pollution generated by economic development was lightest in northwestern, southwestern, and northeastern China, and highest in central and eastern China, and that the water environment in some coastal regions were improving. However, some provinces (e.g., Shanxi Province) were seriously polluted.

Keywords water environment temporal changes spatial distribution comprehensive water pollution index China river basins

Corresponding Author(s): Yan ZHANG

Just Accepted Date: 06 March 2015 Online First Date: 28 April 2015 Issue Date: 20 July 2015

Cite this article:

Jinjian LI,Xiaojie MENG,Yan ZHANG, et al. Analysis of the temporal and spatial distribution of water quality in China’s major river basins, and trends between 2005 and 2010[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2015, 9(3): 463-472.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-015-0498-3
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2015/V9/I3/463

Fig.1 Changes in the comprehensive water pollution index value (WPI) in the ten river basins from 2005 to 2010. (The data for the Southwest River Basin and Southeast River Basin were not available for 2005 and 2006.) Each number that represents a province, from left to right of the x-axis, is in the order of from upstream to downstream regions of a river basin. Some provinces occur in more than one basin because of the topographic characteristics of the province. Province names: 1. Yunnan, 2. Gansu, 3. Sichuan, 4. Shaanxi, 5. Chongqing, 6. Guizhou, 7. Henan, 8. Hubei, 9. Hunan, 10. Anhui, 11. Jiangxi, 12. Jiangsu, 13. Shanghai, 14. Shanxi, 15. Hebei, 16. Shandong, 17. Beijing, 18. Tianjin, 19. Qinghai, 20. Ningxia, 21. Inner Mongolia, 22. Heilongjiang, 23. Jilin, 24. Liaoning, 25. Guangxi, 26. Hainan, 27. Guangdong, 28. Xinjiang, 29. Fujian, 30. Zhejiang, 31. Tibet.

Tab.1 The contributions of the three major pollutants to the comprehensive water pollution index in ten Chinese river basins at the start (2005) and end (2010) of the study period. Major pollution factors shaded in grey did not change between 2005 and 2010 for a given basin: dark grey means that none of the three factors changed, and light grey means that one or two of the three factors did not change.

Fig.2 The classification of the ten Chinese river basins in 2010 based on the median parameter values. Solid lines: WPI, comprehensive water pollution index; (a median of 8.1); GDP, gross domestic product (a median of 1,020×10⁹ CNY). The dashed lines represent the position of the enlarged area shown at the right side of the figure. Province names: 1. Yunnan, 2. Gansu, 3. Sichuan, 4. Shaanxi, 5. Chongqing, 6. Guizhou, 7. Henan, 8. Hubei, 9. Hunan, 10. Anhui, 11. Jiangxi, 12. Jiangsu, 13. Shanghai, 14. Shanxi, 15. Hebei, 16. Shandong, 17. Beijing, 18. Tianjin, 19. Qinghai, 20. Ningxia, 21. Inner Mongolia, 22. Heilongjiang, 23. Jilin, 24. Liaoning, 25. Guangxi, 26. Hainan, 27. Guangdong, 28. Xinjiang, 29. Fujian, 30. Zhejiang, 31. Tibet.

A3 Significance of the differences in WPI for each province in the ten river basins studied from 2005 to 2010. Values labeled with an * differ significantly among the provinces within a basin (p<0.05)

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