Land use and catchment size/scale on the water quality deterioration of Kinta River, Perak, Malaysia

Abstract

GIS and statistical analysis tools were used to examine the impact of catchment size and land use predictors that have an influence on the Kinta River water quality. The percentage of five land use predictor variables specifically forest land, agricultural land, developed areas, water bodies and mine areas were extracted from the entire catchment and buffer zones with radii ranging from 200 to 1000 m. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted on twelve water quality parameters at ten selected stations. Results suggest that, in most cases, the entire catchment landscape characteristics appear to have slightly greater influence on water quality rather than the specific sampling site of predetermined buffer radii. Developed land use becomes the best indicator to predict the degradation of water quality. While forested land, agricultural land, mining areas and water bodies do not contribute much to the river pollution.