Title: Characterisation and assessment of spatiotemporal variations in nutrient concentrations and fluxes in an urban watershed: Passaic River Basin, New Jersey, USA

Authors: Jinglong Du; Huan Feng; Jing Nie; Yuanyi Li; Benjamin B. Witherell

Addresses: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Jiangsu 215009, China; Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey 07043, USA ' Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey 07043, USA ' Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey 07043, USA ' Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey 07043, USA; Department of Mechanics, School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China ' New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, New Jersey 08625, USA

Abstract: This study investigated the spatial and temporal variations in total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) and total phosphorus (TP) and examined the relationship between water quality and urbanisation in the Passaic River watershed. The results indicate that: 1) the mean TIN and TP concentrations and fluxes showed a relatively steadily decreasing trend in last two decades; 2) TIN and TP concentrations in summer and autumn were higher than those in spring and winter, but the fluxes were lower than those in spring and winter. At the same time, TIN and TP concentrations in normal flow condition were also higher than those in storm flow condition, but the fluxes were lower than those in storm flow condition; 3) spatially, water quality in upper reaches of the rivers was better than that of middle and lower reaches, and the nutrient concentrations in water management area (WMA) 4 were the highest, followed by WMA 6 and WMA 3. Land use change, population growth, urbanisation and environmental protection investment were the main factors that influence the change of environment in the Passaic River Basin.

Keywords: total inorganic nitrogen; total phosphorus; spatial and temporal variations; geographic information system; Passaic River.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2018.097310

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2018 Vol.63 No.3, pp.154 - 177

Received: 05 Jun 2017
Accepted: 30 May 2018
Published online: 14 Jan 2019 *

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