The effect of different land uses on some water quality parameters in the Çöppınarı Stream watershed in Eskişehir Province

Abstract

Water is one of the most important natural resources needed by all living things on earth. The quality of water, which is of such great importance, may deteriorate in parallel with industrialization and population growth. Climate and land use are two important factors affecting water quality. Especially in regions with arid and semi-arid climates, the control of land use and water quality is even more important than in other regions. In this study, the effects of different land uses (forest, recreation and agriculture) on some water quality parameters were investigated along a precipitation basin in Eskişehir, which has semi-arid climate characteristics. In the study, it was determined that the use of agriculture significantly increased the calcium (Ca+2), magnesium (Mg+2), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), chloride (Cl-), sulphate (SO4-2) and electrical conductivity (EC) values in the waters of the Çöppınarı watershed compared to the use for forest and recreation purposes. Therefore, more care should be taken in the use of fertilizers in agricultural areas. Necessary measures should be taken by making water quality measurements in certain periods in streams where such lands are dense.

Keywords

• land use
• forest
• agriculture
• recreation
• water quality
• arazi kullanımı
• orman
• tarım
• rekreasyon
• su kalitesi