Regional Characteristics of Nonpoint Source Pollutant Loads in the Upstream Watersheds of Nakdong River

낙동강 상류유역의 지역별 비점오염부하 특성

The characteristics of nonpoint source pollutant loads in upstream of Nakdong River were studied through analysis of pollutant loads of 10 sub-watersheds divided based on administrative district. The discharge and pollutant concentration of each sub-watershed were collected from Nakdong-River Water Research Institute and Daegu Regional Environmental office, respectively. Pollution items analysed in this study were BOD, T-N and T-P. The delivery loads of the nonpoint source pollutions of each sub-watershed were calculated after analysing the concentration of the pollution of each site. Several points were found from the results. Firstly, in general, city areas including Sangju, Andong showed higher degree of nonpoint pollution than country areas including Cheongsong, Yeongyang. The sub-watersheds located upstream side, such as Yeongju, Bonghwa, Necessarily show better water quality than the sub-watersheds located downstream side, such as Mungyeong, Uiseong. This result indicates that a given pollution condition within the watershed can be more sensitive than location factor to the level of water quality. Secondly, the delivery load and area of watershed were not necessarily correlated in the sense of water quality, while the discharge was shown to be highly correlated to the delively load of pollution. Lastly, sewage and waste caused from population and livestock, as well as landuse factor, were found to significantly contribute to the water pollution. Alternative solutions for controlling pollution source, therefore, should be provided to meet target levels of water quality in these regions.