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Examination of Differences in Water Quality and Quantity by Reservoir Catchment with a Different Land-Use Type in the Republic of Mauritius

Fatema Nabybaccus,D. K. Lee,Yohan Lee,Jung-Bum Seo

Published 2018 in Sustainability

ABSTRACT

Forest buffers contribute to enhancing the quality and availability of water in catchments. This study aims to examine the effects of forest buffers on water quality and quantity in three reservoir catchments in Mauritius, including Mare aux Vacoas (MAV), Mare Longue (ML), and La Ferme (LF). While MAV and ML are surrounded by forests, the forested area of LF was cleared for photovoltaic panels for electricity generation and agriculture. We used catchment simulation modeling and empirical data analysis. The results showed that the concentrations of water quality parameters, such as conductivity, silica, total suspended solid (TSS), total organic carbon (TOC), NO 3 −, NO 2 −, and total reactive P in LF were higher than those in MAV and ML. Sparsely vegetated lands can lead to water quality degradation due to surface runoff. In addition, the water quantity per unit area for MAV and ML were greater than that for LF, which indicated that a high percentage of forest buffer cover also positively influences the quantity of water in catchments. Our findings suggest that forest buffers have a critical importance in hydrological cycles and also enhance water production, and thus should help develop an effective and innovative water resource management strategy in Mauritius.

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