Investigation of correlation between surface runoff rate and stream water quality

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between stream water quality and the surface runoff rate defined as the ratio of annual surface runoff to annual average precipitation. The surface runoff rate was first estimated in the Han River basin located in South Korea using the calibrated and validated HSPF model. Then a linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the correlation between the computed surface runoff rate and the observed water quality. It was found that there were statistically significant relationships between the surface runoff rate and concentrations of BOD, COD, and T-P and higher surface runoff rate led to the deterioration of water quality in streams. Finally, the applicability of the surface runoff rate as an indicator to measure the impact of land development on stream water quality was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The ROC curve analysis indicated that the surface runoff rate could be utilized as a useful indicator to illustrate the degradation of stream water quality at the watershed scale. The results from this study also suggest that the surface runoff rate needs to be managed and controlled within about 15% to prevent the degradation of stream water quality. © 2021 The Authors.