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Spatio-seasonal variation of water quality influenced by land use and land cover in Lake Muhazi

2021; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 11; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/s41598-021-96633-9

2045-2322

Edovia Dufatanye Umwali, Alishir Kurban, Alain Isabwe, Richard Mind’je, Hossein Azadi, Zengkun Guo, Madeleine Udahogora, Anathalie Nyirarwasa, Jeanine Umuhoza, Vincent Nzabarinda, Aboubakar Gasirabo, Gulnur Sabirhazi,

Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Abstract Understanding the influence of land use/land cover (LULC) on water quality is pertinent to sustainable water management. This study aimed at assessing the spatio-seasonal variation of water quality in relation to land use types in Lake Muhazi, Rwanda. The National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSF-WQI) was used to evaluate the anthropogenically-induced water quality changes. In addition to Principal Components Analysis (PCA), a Cluster Analysis (CA) was applied on 12-clustered sampling sites and the obtained NSF-WQI. Lastly, the Partial Least Squares Path Modelling (PLS-PM) was used to estimate the nexus between LULC, water quality parameters, and the obtained NSF-WQI. The results revealed a poor water quality status at the Mugorore and Butimba sites in the rainy season, then at Mugorore and Bwimiyange sites in the dry season. Furthermore, PCA displayed a sample dispersion based on seasonality while NSF-WQI’s CA hierarchy grouped the samples corresponding to LULC types. Finally, the PLS-PM returned a strong positive correlation (+ 0.831) between LULCs and water quality parameters in the rainy season but a negative correlation coefficient (− 0.542) in the dry season, with great influences of cropland on the water quality parameters. Overall, this study concludes that the lake is seasonally influenced by anthropogenic activities, suggesting sustainable land-use management decisions, such as the establishment and safeguarding protection belts in the lake vicinity.