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Volume 16
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10.3390/w16213033
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Article

Impacts of Land Use and Land Cover Change on Non-Point Source Pollution in the Nyabarongo River Catchment, Rwanda

by
Justin Nsanzabaganwa
1,2,3,
Xi Chen
1,2,*,
Tie Liu
1,2,
Egide Hakorimana
1,2,3,
Richard Mind’je
1,2,3,
Aboubakar Gasirabo
1,2,3,
Bakayisire Fabiola
1,2,
Adeline Umugwaneza
1,2,3 and
Niyonsenga Schadrack
1,2
1
State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi 830011, China
2
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
3
Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Lay Adventists of Kigali (UNILAK), Kigali P.O. Box 6392, Rwanda
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Water 2024, 16(21), 3033; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16213033
Submission received: 30 September 2024 / Revised: 16 October 2024 / Accepted: 21 October 2024 / Published: 23 October 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Watershed Ecology, Hydrology and Climate)
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Abstract

The Nyabarongo river catchment in Rwanda has experienced significant changes in its land use and land cover (LULC) in recent decades, with profound implications for non-point source pollution. However, there are limited studies on non-point pollution caused by nutrient loss associated with land use and land cover changes in the catchment. This study investigates the spatiotemporal impacts of these changes on water quality considering nitrogen and phosphorus within the catchment from 2000 to 2020 and 2030 as a projection. The SWAT model was used in analysis of hydrological simulations, while the CA–Markov model was used for the future projection of LULC in 2030. The results revealed (1) the important changes in LULC in the study area, where a decrease in forestland was observed with a considerable increase in built-up land, grassland, and cropland; (2) that the R2 and NSE of the TN and TP in the runoff simulation in the catchment were all above 0.70, showing good applicability during calibration and validation periods; (3) that from 2000 to 2020 and looking to the projection in 2030, the simulated monthly average TN and TP levels have progressively increased from 15.36 to 145.71 kg/ha, 2.46 to 15.47 kg/ha, 67.2 to 158.8 kg/ha, and 9.3 to 17.43 kg/ha, respectively; and (4) that the most polluted land use types are agriculture and urban areas, due to increases in human activities as a consequence of population growth in the catchment. Understanding the patterns and drivers of these changes is critical for developing effective policies and practices for sustainable land management and protection of water resources.
Keywords: LULC; non-point source pollution; Nyabarongo river; SWAT; Rwanda LULC; non-point source pollution; Nyabarongo river; SWAT; Rwanda

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MDPI and ACS Style

Nsanzabaganwa, J.; Chen, X.; Liu, T.; Hakorimana, E.; Mind’je, R.; Gasirabo, A.; Fabiola, B.; Umugwaneza, A.; Schadrack, N. Impacts of Land Use and Land Cover Change on Non-Point Source Pollution in the Nyabarongo River Catchment, Rwanda. Water 2024, 16, 3033. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16213033

AMA Style

Nsanzabaganwa J, Chen X, Liu T, Hakorimana E, Mind’je R, Gasirabo A, Fabiola B, Umugwaneza A, Schadrack N. Impacts of Land Use and Land Cover Change on Non-Point Source Pollution in the Nyabarongo River Catchment, Rwanda. Water. 2024; 16(21):3033. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16213033

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nsanzabaganwa, Justin, Xi Chen, Tie Liu, Egide Hakorimana, Richard Mind’je, Aboubakar Gasirabo, Bakayisire Fabiola, Adeline Umugwaneza, and Niyonsenga Schadrack. 2024. "Impacts of Land Use and Land Cover Change on Non-Point Source Pollution in the Nyabarongo River Catchment, Rwanda" Water 16, no. 21: 3033. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16213033

APA Style

Nsanzabaganwa, J., Chen, X., Liu, T., Hakorimana, E., Mind’je, R., Gasirabo, A., Fabiola, B., Umugwaneza, A., & Schadrack, N. (2024). Impacts of Land Use and Land Cover Change on Non-Point Source Pollution in the Nyabarongo River Catchment, Rwanda. Water, 16(21), 3033. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16213033

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