[GIS and L-THIA based analysis on variations of non-point pollution in the Guanlan River watershed, Shenzhen].

ABSTRACT

In order to reveal the influence of land use change, on the non-point source pollution load during the rapid urbanization process in the Guanlan River watershed, Shenzhen, Guangdong, with the support of GIS, L-THIA model was used to analyze the changes in spatial distribution of non-point source pollution load in the river watershed from 1996 to 2008. The parameters in L-THIA model were revised according to the environmental conditions of the study region. The results showed that during the urbanization from 1996 to 2008, the load of major pollutants, namely TN, TP and COD, showed an obviously increasing trend with increase rates being 62.78%, 59.73% and 55.40%, respectively, and the distribution of areas with high pollution load was expanding along the river and the main roads, and then connected into large areas. The total load of SS was decreased by 7.59%. This was caused by the reduction of land for development, which was the land use pattern with high SS output. Therefore, in order to control the non-point pollution effectively, the Guanlan River watershed could be divided into four pollution control areas according to the distribution of pollution load and different land use patterns. The results of this research would provide scientific references for non-point source pollution control in the Guanlan River watershed.