Influence of the South–North Water Diversion Project and the mitigation projects on the water quality of Han River

Situated in the central part of China, the Han River Basin is undergoing rapid social and economic development with some human interventions to be made soon which will profoundly influence the water environment of the basin. The integrated MIKE 11 model system comprising of a rainfall-runoff model (NAM), a non-point load evaluation model (LOAD), a hydrodynamic model (MIKE 11 HD) and a water quality model (ECOLab) was applied to investigate the impact of the Middle Route of the South–North Water Diversion Project on the Han River and the effectiveness of the 2 proposed mitigation projects, the 22 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and the Yangtze–Han Water Diversion Project. The study concludes that business as usual will lead to a continuing rapid deterioration of the water quality of the Han River. Implementation of the Middle Route of the South–North Water Diversion Project in 2010 will bring disastrous consequence in the form of the remarkably elevated pollution level and high risk of algae bloom in the middle and lower reaches. The proposed WWTPs will merely lower the pollution level in the reach by around 10%, while the Yangtze–Han Water Diversion Project can significantly improve the water quality in the downstream 200-km reach. The results reveal that serious water quality problem will emerge in the middle reach between Xiangfan and Qianjiang in the future. Implementation of the South–North Water Diversion Project (phase II) in 2030 will further exacerbate the problem. In order to effectively improve the water quality of the Han River, it is suggested that nutrient removal processes should be adopted in the proposed WWTPs, and the pollution load from the non-point sources, especially the load from the upstream Henan Province, should be effectively controlled.