Identifying Key Influences on Surface Water Quality in Freshwater Areas of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta from 2018 to 2020

Urbanization, industrialization, and the loss of freshwater resources are leading to an increased awareness of the importance of surface water quality worldwide. Limited ground water resources, prolonged drouths, and flooding are creating pressure on the availability of freshwater sources in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. However, the surface water quality in this region is measured mainly at the provincial level, without reference to the water quality of adjacent regions. In order to identify and understand the key factors that contribute significantly to the quality of surface water, it is necessary to consider the delta region as a holistic system and to systematically investigate the influence of different land uses on water quality. In this study, surface water quality was evaluated during the dry season, when flow is low and water exchange is limited. For this purpose, the temporal variation in the surface water quality of 12 water quality parameters at 132 monitoring stations was analyzed according to their surrounding type of land use. To further investigate the impact on low-hierarchy canals, a correlation analysis between the river and canal class hierarchy and all investigated water quality parameters was performed. The results show that surface water quality suffers particularly in the case of a low dissolved oxygen (DO) content, with a measured minimum of 0.48 mg/L, and in cases of organic pollution in the form of total suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, and chemical oxygen demand, with values up to 146 mg/L, 75.0 mg/L, and 41.0 mg/L, respectively. As the main factors influencing surface water pollution, freshwater aquaculture and industrial activities were identified. This could have a relevant impact on future sustainable land use planning.

Automated summary

Urbanization, industrialization, and the loss of freshwater resources have led to an increased awareness of the importance of surface water quality worldwide. The Vietnamese Mekong Delta is facing pressure on the availability of freshwater sources due to limited ground water resources, prolonged droughts, and flooding. This study identified freshwater aquaculture and industrial activities as the main factors influencing surface water pollution in the delta region.