Climate change effect on water quality in the Jucar River Basin

This study analyses the effect of climate change on water quality in the Jucar River Basin from future estimations of hydrological inputs and water temperature (WT). For this purpose, a large-scale water quality model was used to estimate the ecological status of all the water bodies, based on the concentrations of BDO5, P, NH4+ and NO3- for the future horizons 2020, 2050 and 2080. In this study, a greater number of water bodies with higher pollution levels (80-100% failures) were obtained in the horizons 2050 and 2080, which are located in the middle and lower parts of the basin. In addition, the degradation of BDO5 and the NH4+ is highly dependent on WT, highlighting the importance of considering this variable in the model.

Automated summary

This study analyzes the impact of climate change on water quality in the Jucar River Basin through future estimations of hydrological inputs and water temperature. Results indicate that in the future horizons of 2050 and 2080, a greater number of water bodies in the middle and lower parts of the basin will exhibit higher pollution levels, with degradation of BDO5 and NH4+ being highly dependent on water temperature.