Water quality and land use in Ipanema Stream Watershed (Doce River Basin/Brazil): effects of urbanization

We evaluated the water quality conditions and their relationships with the land cover/use throughout the entire Ipanema Stream Watershed (ISW), also considering temporal differences. Thirteen water quality variables were evaluated in fourteen sampling stations located in rural, peri-urban, and urban zones in both dry and rainy seasons from 2015 to 2018. A PCA was performed to detect which variables explain most of the data variability and to detect spatial and/or temporal trends in ISW water quality. The four PCs explained 74% of the data variability, but strong relationships with environmental variables were only observed in the two main components. PC1 was related to nutrients, alkalinity, BOD, electrical conductivity, DO, and pH, while PC2 was related to total suspended solids (TSS) and chlorophyll-a. A spatial pattern related to sampling stations and land uses was observed, but no temporal pattern was identified. Ammoniacal-N and TSS were most important variables (loading values > |0.75|), and showed higher values in urban zone probably due to inadequate sewage discharge. Ipanema Stream did not show a self-purification capacity, and the high TSS concentrations in rural mainstream ask for riparian zone restoration. These management actions for water quality improvement would even contribute to the recovery of Doce River.