Research on water quality improvement of plain irrigation area based on multi-scenario simulation

Water diversion projects have proven to be effective interventions to improve water quality in irrigation ditches. This study focused on quantifying the water quality improvement by utilizing a hydrodynamic water quality model in Funing County, Yancheng City. The model performed a spatial analysis of pollution concentrations across the study area. Various optimization scenarios were designed based on the diversion project and hydrological structure connectivity. The model was used to simulate changes in nutrient concentrations under different scenarios. The findings of this study were as follows: (1) Rural areas had lower nutrient concentrations and superior hydrological connectivity than urban areas. (2) The effect of water quality improvement correlated positively with increased flow rates introduced by the diversion project. Specifically, when the flow rate increased by 50%, the average reductions were 20% for NH4+, 5.2% for TN, and 5.1% for TP. Furthermore, introduced clean water led to more pronounced improvements in the overall regional water quality. (3) Although increasing the number of ditches improved water pollution concentration, the impact was not significant. (4) Model simulation results showed that 18 to 45% water diversion intensity effectively improved water quality, and the optimal water diversion intensity was 27 to 30%. The optimal water diversion intensities offered valuable insights for managing this region. The study's methods contributed to the promotion of sustainable development in regional water resources and the integrated management of the water environment.