Water and nonpoint source pollution estimation in the watershed with limited data availability based on hydrological simulation and regression model

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is considered as the main reason for water quality deterioration; thus, to quantify the NPS loads reliably is the key to implement watershed management practices. In this study, water quality and NPS loads from a watershed with limited data availability were studied in a mountainous area in China. Instantaneous water discharge was measured through the velocity-area method, and samples were taken for water quality analysis in both flood and nonflood days in 2010. The streamflow simulated by Hydrological Simulation Program-Fortran (HSPF) from 1995 to 2013 and a regression model were used to estimate total annual loads of various water quality parameters. The concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) were much higher during the flood seasons, but the concentrations of ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 -N) were lower during the flood seasons. Nevertheless, only TP concentration was positively correlated with the flow rate. The fluctuation of annual load from this watershed was significant. Statistical results indicated the significant contribution of pollutant fluxes during flood seasons to annual fluxes. The loads of TP, TN, NH 3 -N, and NO 3 -N in the flood seasons were accounted for 58–85, 60–82, 63–88, 64–81 % of the total annual loads, respectively. This study presented a new method for estimation of the water and NPS loads in the watershed with limited data availability, which simplified data collection to watershed model and overcame the scale problem of field experiment method.