Effect of land use on water quality in waterhead region in river network plain - A case study of the Upper Huangpu River

Based on the water resources survey of Shanghai in 1999 and the 1:50 000 color infrared aerial photos obtained in early 2000, a case study of the upper Huangpu River was carried out. The exponential method, pair-sample t test, and remote sensing analysis are used to analyze water environmental characteristics and land use pattern in the river network plain. In order to explore response of water quality in the waterhead region to the changes in land use and its driving force, five land use patterns are selected and a new type of exponential is designed. Results show that the water environment of the upper Huangpu River is affected integratedly by land use and flow from the upper reaches; river water quality is negatively related to proportion of industrial land in the sample zones; and the water quality at the water catchment near the Songpu Bridge is closely related to the water quality of the flow coming down from the upper streams, and driving forces of change in land use, such as development of the industry and population density in the waterhead region. It is suggested that attention be given to quality of incoming water from the upper reaches while strict measures be taken to control the intensity of land exploitation in hydraulically sensitive areas and build up a ring-structure land use pattern in the waterhead region by means of land use and socio-economic driving forces.