Water quality in Lis river, Portugal

Abstract

In the past 30 years, the Lis river basin has been subjected to constant ecological disasters mainly due to piggery untreated wastewater discharges. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of existing domestic, agricultural, and industrial activities on the water quality, and to propose a watershed plan to protect and manage surface water resources within the Lis river basin. For this purpose, 16 monitoring stations have been strategically selected along the Lis river stretch and its main tributaries to evaluate the water quality in six different sampling periods (2003-2006). All samples were characterized in terms of organic material, nutrients, chlorophyll, and pathogenic bacteria. Generally, the Lis river presents poor water quality, according to environmental quality standards for surface water, principally in terms of dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, and fecal coliform, which can be associated mainly with the contamination source from pig-breeding farms.