Trend Analysis of the Flow and Water Quality Data for the Broad River Basin, South Carolina, USA

İngilizce (OpenAlex)

Water quality is vital for human health and the protection of natural ecosystems. The demand for quality water is increasing day by day. It is known that changes in precipitation and temperature regimes due to climate change directly or indirectly affect water quantity and quality. In order to understand the potential effects of climate change on water resources, it is very important to know the changes in flow and water quality data over time. In this study, monthly, seasonal, and annual changes of dissolved oxygen (DO), water temperature (WT), discharge (Q), and specific conductance (SC) parameters, which are measured and recorded daily between 1987 and 2022 at four monitoring stations (two in the main branch and two in the tributaries) in the Broad River Basin (South Carolina, USA), were investigated using Mann-Kendall test and innovative trend analysis. Electrical conductivity (EC) values, calculated by considering SC and WT values, were considered. Mann-Kendall test and innovative trend analysis identified significant trends in 32.4 and 64.6% of the 272 time series analyzed, respectively. It was determined that innovative trend analysis was more sensitive in identifying decreasing trends. While the spatially and temporally varying trends in the river DO concentration and EC values were associated with human activities, it was concluded that the increasing trends in WT values and decreasing trends in Q values may be due to climate change on precipitation and air temperature parameters.