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Ecological water replenishment to the Yongding River, China: effects of different water sources on inorganic ions and organic matter characteristics

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Abstract

Ecological water replenishment is considered to be an important project to adjust river ecosystems with water shortages and degradation, and its impact on the water quality of the target river section deserves attention. By investigating the characteristics of inorganic ions and organic components of the Beijing section of the Yongding River (YDR) from upstream to downstream, the sources of inorganic ions and dissolved organic matter (DOM) during an ecological water replenishment event were analysed and discussed. This study illustrated the hydrochemical response to different supplemental water sources in three sections of the YDR (mountain gorge section (MGS), urban plain section (UPS), and suburb plain section (SPS)). The results showed that the total dissolved solids (TDS) and ion concentrations were significantly different (p < 0.001) in the three river sections due to different supplemental water sources. The highest concentration of TDS was found in the UPS (870.92 mg/L) replenished by reclaimed water, while the lowest concentration of TDS was found in the SPS (306.95 mg/L) replenished by the water of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWD). Despite the differences in the water sources of replenishment, the optical parameters of DOM and fluorescent components showed similar protein-like dominated endogenous source characteristics in the three river sections of the YDR, which was due to the influence of reservoir water (MGS and SPS) and reclaimed water (UPS). Our study emphasizes the importance of understanding the impact of different water sources on the water replenishment process, which provides a scientific reference for the management of ecological water replenishment.

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All data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on request.

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Funding

The study was supported by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Project (Z181100005518012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Ling Bai, Yijuan Bai, Ying Hou, Shengrui Wang & Aizhong Ding

  2. State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Shurong Zhang

  3. Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Hydrological Cycle and Sponge City Technology, Beijing, 100875, China

    Shengrui Wang & Aizhong Ding

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  1. Ling Bai
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  2. Yijuan Bai
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  3. Ying Hou
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  4. Shurong Zhang
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Contributions

Shurong Zhang, Shengrui Wang, and Aizhong Ding contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Ling Bai, Yijuan Bai, and Ying Hou. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Ling Bai, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shurong Zhang.

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Bai, L., Bai, Y., Hou, Y. et al. Ecological water replenishment to the Yongding River, China: effects of different water sources on inorganic ions and organic matter characteristics. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 39107–39120 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-25017-x

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