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As a representative urban stream in Korea, the Gwangju (GJ) stream suffers from chronic fecal contamination. In this study, to characterize levels of fecal pollution in the GJ stream, the monthly monitoring data for seven years (from 2001 to 2007) and the hourly monitoring data from two field experiments were examined with respect to seasonal/daily variations and spatial distribution under wet and dry weather conditions. This research revealed that concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria strongly varied depending on the prevalent meteorological conditions. That is, during the dry daytime, fecal indicator bacteria concentrations decreased due to inactivation from solar irradiation, but rapidly increased in the absence of sunlight, suggesting external source inputs. In addition, bacterial concentrations substantially increased during rainfall events, due probably to a major contribution from combined sewer overflow. The observations in this study can be useful for implementing fecal pollution management strategies and for predicting fecal contamination as a function of meteorological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a management scheme to control river water quality using additional water discharges from upstream dams, which results in an increase environmental flow (EF) followed by an enhancement of water quality in a target river. To suggest a creditable management plan among a suite of ideal scenarios, the monthly averaged water quality monitoring data from 2001 to 2006 at the Yeongsan (YS) River, Korea were investigated with respect to seasonal variation and spatial distribution. From the analysis, it was found that while biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) level in the YS River was extremely high during the dry/drought season (April, May, and June; AMJ), the level was subsequently decreased during the monsoon season (July, August, and September; JAS) due mainly to the dilution effect of rainfall. To improve the water quality in AMJ, we here suggested a scenario of increasing EF using surplus water discharges from upstream dams, which was examined by one dimensional riverine water quality model, QUAL2E model. Simulation result showed that additional discharge from the upstream dams could lead, on average, to a 36% of water quality improvement in mainstream with respect to BOD5. Model coefficients were validated by comparing the six year monitoring data to minimize a sum of squares error, and showed a good agreement with the observed data. Overall, the methodology developed in this paper appears to be quite clear and straightforward, and thus, can be applied to a wide range of the flow managements or water quality controls in a stream with artificial structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greater efforts to provide alternative scenarios are key to successful urban stream restoration planning. In this study, we discuss two different aspects of water quality management schemes, biodegradation and human health, which are incorporated in the restoration project of original, pristine condition of urban stream at the Gwangju (GJ) Stream, Korea. For this study, monthly monitoring of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) data were obtained from 2003 to 2008 and for 2008, respectively, and these were evaluated to explore pollutant magnitude and variation with respect to space and time window. Ideal scenarios to reduce target pollutants were determined based on their seasonal characteristics and correlations between the concentrations at a water intake and discharge point, where we suggested an increase of environmental flow and wetland as pollutants reduction drawing for BOD5 and FIB, respectively. The scenarios were separately examined by the Qual2E model and hypothetically (but planned) constructed wetland, respectively. The results revealed that while controlling of the water quality at the intake point guaranteed the lower pollution level of BOD5 in the GJ Stream, a wetland constructed at the discharge point may be a promising strategy to mitigate mass loads of FIB. Overall, this study suggests that a combination of the two can be plausible scenarios not only to support sustainable urban water resources management, but to enhance a quality of urban stream restoration assignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]