Polluted lake restoration to promote sustainability in the Yangtze River Basin, China

Seasonal and interannual changes (2005-2021) of lake water quality and the implications for sustainable management in a rapidly growing metropolitan region, central China

A series of restoration measures such as municipal wastewater treatment and aquaculture closures have been implemented in Wuhan City during recent years. In order to explore the impact of restoration measures and climate change on lake water quality, long-term (2005-2021) water quality data of 47 lakes were explored to reveal spatiotemporal changes in lake water quality. Percentages of polluted lakes were calculated according to six water-quality parameters, including total phosphorus (TP), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand using potassium permanganate as oxidant (CODMn) and petroleum contamination (PET), at interannual and monthly timescales. At the interannual timescale, percentages of COD, BOD, CODMn and PET pollution decreased significantly, suggestive of water quality improvement during recent years. At the monthly timescale, low percentages of NH3-N and BOD pollution in March 2020 probably resulted from the sharp reduction in human activities during the COVID-19 lockdown. At the monthly timescale, temperature was positively correlated with percentage of CODMn pollution, but negatively correlated with percentage of NH3-N pollution; precipitation was negatively correlated with percentage of BOD pollution. The similarity of water-quality parameters generally decreased with an increase in geographical distance between each pair of lakes. However, the regression coefficients between the similarity of lake water quality and the geographical distance decreased with time, probably resulting from enhanced similarity of water quality parameters among all lakes with rapid urbanization. Our results highlight the importance of active restoration measures for sustainable management of lakes in Wuhan City, as well as in similar developing regions.

Advancing illicit connection diagnosis of urban stormwater pipes: Comprehensive analysis with EEM fluorescence spectroscopy

Urban drainage systems are significant contributors to the issue of black-odorous water bodies. The current application of stormwater pipe inspection technologies faces substantial limitations, especially in industrial areas with diverse wastewater. This study introduced an innovative approach using excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy for rapid and accurate diagnosis, providing a new perspective for diagnosing illicit connections. In single wastewater-type areas like residential zones, the method achieved a remarkable 91.5 % accuracy solely through spectra observation and fluorescence peak intensity comparison, outperforming conventional NH3-N-based techniques, which reached an accuracy of only 68.1 %. For regions with complex wastewater scenarios, after EEM subtraction, the residual spectra can be roughly categorized into four distinctive categories based on characteristics. This provides a preliminary assessment and helps in initially identifying the types and sources of inflowing wastewater. Furthermore, the least squares (LS) method refines diagnosis results, offering calculated coefficients reflecting the probability and severity of suspected wastewater intrusion. Simulation experiments and field sample analyses validated the feasibility and accuracy of the EEM-based method, highlighting its advantages for diagnosing illicit connections in both single and mixed wastewater scenarios. The results can significantly narrow down the investigation scope and enhance the confirmation of wastewater sources, exhibiting promising application prospects.

Transient social-ecological dynamics reveal signals of decoupling in a highly disturbed Anthropocene landscape

Understanding the transient dynamics of interlinked social-ecological systems (SES) is imperative for assessing sustainability in the Anthropocene. However, how to identify critical transitions in real-world SES remains a formidable challenge. In this study, we present an evolutionary framework to characterize these dynamics over an extended historical timeline. Our approach leverages multidecadal rates of change in socioeconomic data, paleoenvironmental, and cutting-edge sedimentary ancient DNA records from China's Yangtze River Delta, one of the most densely populated and intensively modified landscapes on Earth. Our analysis reveals two significant social-ecological transitions characterized by contrasting interactions and feedback spanning several centuries. Initially, the regional SES exhibited a loosely connected and ecologically sustainable regime. Nevertheless, starting in the 1950s, an increasingly interconnected regime emerged, ultimately resulting in the crossing of tipping points and an unprecedented acceleration in soil erosion, water eutrophication, and ecosystem degradation. Remarkably, the second transition occurring around the 2000s, featured a notable decoupling of socioeconomic development from ecoenvironmental degradation. This decoupling phenomenon signifies a more desirable reconfiguration of the regional SES, furnishing essential insights not only for the Yangtze River Basin but also for regions worldwide grappling with similar sustainability challenges. Our extensive multidecadal empirical investigation underscores the value of coevolutionary approaches in understanding and addressing social-ecological system dynamics.

How nutrient retention and TN:TP ratios depend on ecosystem state in thousands of Chinese lakes

Worldwide, anthropogenic activities threaten surface water quality by aggravating eutrophication and increasing total nitrogen to total phosphorus (TN:TP) ratios. In hydrologically connected systems, water quality management may benefit from in-ecosystem nutrient retention by preventing nutrient transport to downstream systems. However, nutrient retention may also alter TN:TP ratios with unforeseen consequences for downstream water quality. Here, we aim to increase understanding of how nutrient retention may influence nutrient transport to downstream systems to improve long-term water quality management. We analyzed lake ecosystem state, in-lake nutrient retention, and nutrient transport (ratios) for 3482 Chinese lakes using the lake process-based ecosystem model PCLake+. We compared a low climate change and sustainability-, and a high climate change and economy-focused scenario for 2050 against 2012. In both scenarios, the effect of nutrient input reduction outweighs that of temperature rise, resulting in more lakes with good ecological water quality (i.e., macrophyte-dominated) than in 2012. Generally, the sustainability-focused scenario shows a more promising future for water quality than the economy-focused scenario. Nevertheless, most lakes remain phytoplankton-dominated. The shift to more macrophyte-dominated lakes in 2050 is accompanied by higher nutrient retention fractions and less nutrient transport to downstream waterbodies. In-lake nutrient retention also alters the water's TN:TP ratio, depending on the inflow TN:TP ratio and the ecosystem state. In 2050 higher TN:TP ratios are expected in the outflows of lakes than in 2012, especially for the sustainability-focused scenario with strong TP loading reduction. However, the downstream impact of increased TN:TP ratios depends on actual nutrient loadings and the limiting nutrient in the receiving system. We conclude that nutrient input reductions, improved water quality, higher in-lake nutrient retention fractions, and lower nutrient transport to downstream waterbodies go hand in hand. Therefore, water quality management could benefit even more from nutrient pollution reduction than one would expect at first sight.

Pervasive soil phosphorus losses in terrestrial ecosystems in China

Future phosphorus (P) shortages could seriously affect terrestrial productivity and food security. We investigated the changes in topsoil available P (AP) and total P (TP) in China's forests, grasslands, paddy fields, and upland croplands during the 1980s-2010s based on substantial repeated soil P measurements (63,220 samples in the 1980s, 2000s, and 2010s) and machine learning techniques. Between the 1980s and 2010s, total soil AP stock increased with a small but significant rate of 0.13 kg P ha-1  year-1 , but total soil TP stock declined substantially (4.5 kg P ha-1  year-1 ) in the four ecosystems. We quantified the P budgets of soil-plant systems by harmonizing P fluxes from various sources for this period. Matching trends of soil contents over the decades with P budgets and fluxes, we found that the P-surplus in cultivated soils (especially in upland croplands) might be overestimated due to the great soil TP pool compared to fertilization and the substantial soil P losses through plant uptake and water erosion that offset the P additions. Our findings of P-deficit in China raise the alarm on the sustainability of future biomass production (especially in forests), highlight the urgency of P recycling in croplands, and emphasize the critical role of country-level basic data in guiding sound policies to tackle the global P crises.

A spatiotemporal optimization method for nutrient control in lake watersheds

Developing an efficient strategy for managing nutrients in less-developed lake watersheds that can balance the need for socioeconomic progress with the protection of aquatic ecosystems has become an urgent research subject for achieving sustainable development. This paper improves the optimization method for environmental and economic management of lake watersheds proposed in our previous research. A spatiotemporal optimization method based on a coupling model consisting of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, system dynamics model, and objective programming model was applied to an agricultural non-point source (ANPS) pollution control program and a rural sewage treatment program at the Yilong Lake watershed as a case study. A simulation evaluation showed that the efficiency of the previous scheme was significantly improved after conducting spatiotemporal optimization. This scheme was dynamic and distributed, demonstrating an annual and high-resolution control program that can provide a basis for the precise management of ANPS. Although it still requires improvement, a framework for coupling simulation and two-step optimization was achieved in this study.

Identify nitrogen transport paths and sources contribution in karst valley depression area using isotopic approach

Karst groundwater provides drinking water for a quarter of Earth's population. However, in intensive agricultural regions worldwide, karst water is commonly polluted by nitrate (NO₃^-), particularly in the valley depression areas with well hydrological connectivity. The valley depression aquifers are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic pollution because their pipes and sinkholes respond quickly to rainfall events and anthropogenic inputs. Identifying nitrate sources and transport paths in the valley depression areas is key to understanding the nitrogen cycle and effectively preventing and controlling NO₃^- pollution. This study collected high-resolution samples at four sites including one surface stream-SS, two sinkholes-SH and reservoir-Re, during the wet season in the headwater sub-catchment. The chemical component concentrations and stable isotopes (δ¹⁵N-NO₃^- and δ¹⁸O-NO₃^-) were analyzed. The stable isotope analysis model in R language (SIAR) was used to quantitatively analyze the contribution rate of NO₃^- sources. The results showed that the down section site (Re) has the highest [NO₃^--N], followed by SH and the lowest SS. The sources calculation of SIAR demonstrated that, during the non-rainfall period, soil organic nitrogen was the primary source of the down section site, followed by fertilizer and the upper reaches sinkholes. During the rainfall period, fertilizer was the primary source of the down section site, followed by soil organic nitrogen and from upper reaches sinkholes. Rainfall events accelerated fertilizer-leaching into the groundwater. Slight denitrification may have occurred at the sampling sites but the assimilation of Re and SH could not occur. In conclusion, agricultural activities were still the primary influencing factor of [NO₃^--N] in the study area. Therefore, the focus of NO₃^- prevention and control in the valley depression areas should consider the methods and timing of fertilization and the spatial distribution of sinkholes. To reduce nitrogen flux in the valley depression area, effective management policy should consider, e.g., prolongation of water residence time by wetland, and blocking nitrogen loss paths by sinkholes.

A novel framework to improve the consistency of water quality attribution from natural and anthropogenic factors

One critical question for water security and sustainable development is how water quality responses to the changes in natural factors and human activities, especially in light of the expected exacerbation in water scarcity. Although machine learning models have shown noticeable advances in water quality attribution analysis, they have limited interpretability in explaining the feature importance with theoretical guarantees of consistency. To fill this gap, this study built a modelling framework that employed the inverse distance weighting method and the extreme gradient boosting model to simulate the water quality at grid scale, and adapted the Shapley additive explanation to interpret the contributions of the drivers to water quality over the Yangtze River basin. Different from previous studies, we calculated the contribution of features to water quality at each grid within river basin and aggregated the contribution from all the grids as the feature importance. Our analysis revealed dramatic changes in response magnitudes of water quality to drivers within river basin. Air temperature had high importance in the variability of key water quality indicators (i.e. ammonia-nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chemical oxygen demand), and dominated the changes of water quality in Yangtze River basin, especially in the upstream region. In the mid- and downstream regions, water quality was mainly affected by human activities. This study provided a modelling framework applicable to robustly identify the feature importance by explaining the contribution of features to water quality at each grid.

Combining historical maps and landsat images to delineate the centennial-scale changes of lake wetlands in Taihu Lake Basin, China

Lake wetlands (LWs) are essential components of the ecosystem and play an irreplaceable role in flood regulation, carbon fixation, and biodiversity maintenance. Continuous monitoring of LWs' change is necessary in the context of increased human disturbance and climate change, particularly in Taihu Lake Basin, China, an area exposed to early human exploitation. Yet, long-time series of LWs detection in this region is still unavailable due to the data limitation. To quantify the spatiotemporal dynamics of LWs and the associated driving forces, we combined 236 historical topographic maps and thousands of Landsat satellite images from the 1910s to 2021 to delineate the centennial-scale changes of lake wetlands for the first time in this region. We also applied land use transitions and statistical analyses to quantitively explore the climatic and anthropogenic factors behind LWs variations. Our results document a dramatic decline in the area and number of LWs in the Taihu Lake Basin over the last century and a shift in the 2000s: Taihu Lake Basin has seen a total of 89.15% loss in lake littoral wetlands and a decrease of 14.5% in the whole lake wetlands area, with a net reduction of 68 (from 156 in the 1910s to 88 in the 2021) lakes. This decrease has been especially predominant during the 1910s-2000s, because of the policy initiatives for reclamation and aquacultural industries. The area and number of LWs have gradually been recovered since the 2000s as the country strengthened concern on the ecological restoration and sustainable development. The statistical results suggested that human activities played a dominant role in the LWs changes, with GDP and population explained 80.74% of the changes, coupled with climatic contribution of only around 20%. This long-term investigation will provide baseline information for future lake wetlands monitoring. Our findings could also provide a guidance for decision makers regarding water resources management, environmental protection and land-use planning in urban areas.

The role of nutrients, wind speed, and rainfall in determining the composition of the algal community of shallow lakes in the Taoge water system, upstream from Lake Taihu, China

Gaining a deeper understanding of factors that influence changes in phytoplankton community has significant implications for shallow lake management. The present study examined changes in the algae community of three shallow eutrophic lakes of the Taoge water system between 2008 and 2018 and the related factors influencing these changes. The composition of the algal community varied significantly during this period with the relative diatom biomass in lakes Changdanghu and Gehu increasing between 2014 and 2016 and again decreasing after 2017. However, relative cyanobacteria biomass initially decreased and later increased; meanwhile, the proportion of biomass of other phyla decreased continuously in the study period. Lake Zhushanhu showed similar trends, although it eventually returned to its initial state with absolute Microcystis dominance. Furthermore, the analysis of driving factors revealed that the concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), nitrate (NO₃), and orthophosphate (PO₄) were significantly associated with a significant increase in Microcystis biomass. Meteorological conditions also influenced changes in total algal and diatom biomasses, which were inversely related to the daily mean and daily maximum wind speeds. Monthly cumulative precipitation was only significantly associated with diatom biomass. Meanwhile, rainfall primarily affected the algal community structure between 2013 and 2017; an increase in the relative biomass of diatoms coincided with increased precipitation. Coordinating nitrogen and phosphorous use within the Taoge water system should improve lake habitat management; a broader perspective in attempts to control global and regional climate change may be needed.

Influence of social and environmental drivers on nutrient concentrations and ratios in lakes: A comparison between China and Europe

Global anthropogenic flows of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) have exceeded planetary boundaries with significant implications for pollution of the freshwater resources in the world. Understanding the global patterns and drivers of N and P concentrations and their ratios in the lakes could help design more effective management and remediation strategies to mitigate the impacts of eutrophication. While a suite of drivers are associated with the sources of nutrients, their transport and internal processes that control concentrations of N and P in the lakes, much less is known about the relative importance of different drivers in explaining spatial variations of lake nutrients and ratios. In this study, we compared N and P concentrations and their ratios in the lakes across China and Europe and examined the differences of dominant environmental and social drivers on lake nutrients. Our comparison showed that total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations were much higher in the lakes in China compared to those in Europe (i.e., TN: 1.13 mg/L in China vs. 0.64 mg/L in Europe; TP: 35.83 μg/L in China vs. 19.38 μg/L in Europe, the median value). However, lake N/P ratios for both regions were not statistically different. Concentrations of TN and TP showed decoupling in both regions, with the majority of lakes having high N/P mass ratios when evaluated by the commonly accepted threshold of 23 (i.e., 61% in China and 68% in Europe), indicating that phytoplankton are more P limited relative to N. Agricultural activity in the lake catchment is an important predictor for both nutrient concentrations and their ratio in Europe. This reflects successful investments in infrastructure and policy prescriptions in addressing point sources of pollution. In comparison, lake depth and water residence time are important in the decoupling of N and P concentrations in China. The regional difference between the dominant drivers can provide important insights into development of effective water pollution control measures. It is necessary for policy makers and water resource managers to be aware of large-scale imbalance of nutrients in lake due to the potential environmental consequences. A set of spatially flexible policies for water quality controls would be beneficial for sustaining the ecological integrity and future health of lakes.

A high-resolution nutrient emission inventory for hotspot identification in the Yangtze River Basin

A high-resolution nutrient emission inventory can provide reliable and accurate identification of priority control areas, which is crucial for efficient decisions on water quality restoration. However, the inventories widely used in large-scale modeling are usually based on provincial inputs, which induce the challenges of lacking localized parameters and missing localized characteristic when provincial scale inputs are converted to finer scales with the down-scale methods. Based on elaborate investigations and statistical data at the county scale with multi-scale data conversion, the China Emission Inventory of Nutrients (CEIN) was developed with a spatial resolution of a 0.1° grid and sub-basin scales. The Yangtze River Basin was used as a case study to illustrate the potential applications of CEIN. The emissions of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) of Yangtze River Basin is 0.43 Mt and 0.04 Mt for point sources, 11.09 Mt and 4.64 Mt for diffuse sources in 2017. The hotspot analysis for 2606 sub-basins indicated that cropland is the key source of nutrient emissions, accounting for 58.88% and 79.15% of TN and TP, respectively. Industrial sewage and freshwater aquaculture accounted for 27.39% (TN) and 21.98% (TP) of the point sources, which is substantial due to their direct discharge into surface waters. The current results also reveal that, in contrast to CEIN, the previously used common emission factors based on GDP per capita produced considerable overestimations of 2.37 and 2.65 times the actual TN and TP emissions, respectively. Additional advantages of the CEIN have been demonstrated in identifying priority control areas more accurately with reduced bias and quantifying the effects of policies at much smaller scales. For example, the CEIN helps to distinguish hotspots, which was neglected when identifying sources at the level-III sub-basin scale, and indicates that the management of fractional areas (TN: 16.97%; TP: 13.44%) provides the highest nutrient emissions control (TN: 44.34%; TP: 48.65%) for the entire basin. The evaluation of China's toilet revolution policy demonstrates that achieving equitable access to safe sanitation has resulted in a reduction of 7240 t of TN and 833 t of TP, which is extremely critical for rural water quality and health.