Reducing eutrophication risk of a reservoir by water replacement: a case study of the Qingcaosha reservoir in the Changjiang Estuary

Eutrophication of freshwater systems in cities is a major concern worldwide. Physical, biological and chemical methods have been used in eutrophic lakes and reservoirs to reduce their eutrophic state and algal biomass, but these approaches are not effective without a substantial reduction in nutrients input, which could take decades to achieve in the developing countries. This study aims to assess the risk of eutrophication and algal bloom in a coastal reservoir with high nutrient inputs to confirm the feasibility of inhibiting the reservoir's eutrophic state by hydrodynamic operations. A variety of water quality indexes (e.g., water temperature, secchi depth, dissolved oxygen, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, phytoplankton chlorophyll a) at five observed sites were investigated in the Qingcaosha reservoir, which located in the Changjiang Estuary, during the construction, trial and normal operation periods from 2009 to 2012. No water exchange happened during the construction from April 2009 to October 2010, and the water exchange increased during the trial from October 2010 to January 2011, and during normal operation period from January 2011. The comprehensive nutrition state index (TLI) calculated by several representative water quality indexes was adopted to evaluate the variation of the trophic state in the reservoir. The peak values of TLI reached 51 in the summer of 2009, and 55 in the summer of 2011, higher than the eutrophication threshold value 50. The lowest TLI, about 32, appeared in the summer of 2010. The values of TLI in other observation periods could keep under 50. The results showed that the reservoir could easily deteriorate into the eutrophic state because of excess nutrients and algal blooms in the summer of 2009 and 2011, while the eutrophication and algal blooms could be reduced by the lack of nutrients in 2010 or adequate water replacement in 2012. The temporal and spatial variations of water quality indexes were presented based on observation data and analysis. The adequate water replacement in the reservoir driven by tides was tested to be an efficient and economical method for controlling eutrophication and algae blooms in the water environment with high nutrient inputs.