Index-Based Spatiotemporal Assesment Of Water Quality In Tarbela Reservoir, Pakistan (1990−2020)

Abstract

Anthropogenic activities can greatly influence the lake ecosystems across the globe. Within these ecosystems, the impacts of human activities are most evident on sedimentation, light and nutrient availability, and disturbance frequency. There have been times of natural environmental healing of reservoirs and the present research aims to explore the variations in the water quality of Tarbela reservoir, Pakistan the largest rock-filled dam of the world, from 1990 to 2020. Landsat imagery (Landsat 4-5, 5, 7 and 8) was used to monitor Land Use Land Cover (LULC), Normalized Difference Chlorophyll Index (NDCI), Normalized Difference Turbidity Index (NDTI) and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) in Tarbela reservoir, and its surrounding area from 1990−2020, on decadal interval. The results indicated a significant increase in built-up area, of about 630 km2 , in the western and eastern parts of the reservoir, whereas turbidity level, revealed a substantial decline with 4% decrease observed in the last decade, 2010-2020 thus confirming improved water quality. The study also presented expanse in the spatial coverage of chlorophyll index and water index, indicating increase in residence time of the water. It is concluded that the water quality continued to deteriorate with time, however, 2020 was a year of environmental healing and there was an overall water quality improvement of the reservoir observed. The study recommends policies to be formulated for sediment flushing and turbidity reduction for longer time duration to enhance the life of this mega reservoir.