Hydrogeochemistry and spatio-temporal changes of a tropical coastal wetland system: Veli-Akkulam Lake, Thiruvananthapuram, India

Abstract

The backwater of Veli-Akkulam, adjoining the Arabian Sea in the south-west part of Indian Peninsula, is a coastal wetland system and forms an integral part of the local ecosystem. In addition to the usual marine interactions, this water body is subjected to anthropogenic interference due to their proximity to the Thiruvananthapuram City urban agglomeration. This paper showcases how an urban agglomeration alters wetland system located within a tropical monsoonal environment. Water samples from this lake together with different feeder streams reveal that the lake is under the threat to eutrophication. A spatio-temporal analysis has shown that the lake and adjacent wetlands are shrinking in a fast pace. Over a period of about seven decades, the lake has shrunk by 28.05 % and the wetlands by 37.81 %. And hence, there is a pressing requirement of eco-management practices to be adopted to protect this lake.