Evaluation of Water Quality Status of Pohru watershed, Kashmir valley, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Pohru watershed located towards north of Kashmir valley is the largest watershed of the Jhelum basin. The watershed is heavily intervened by the human activities such as irrigation, sewage discharge, sand extraction, and other domestic activities thereby, rendering significant changes in its water quality. Therefore, in this study, an analysis of physicochemical parameters water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, salinity, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, nitrate, chloride, hardness, alkalinity, phosphorous, free carbon dioxide, ortho phosphorus, and ammonia has been carried out to evaluate its water quality status. The analysis was carried out following the standard methods of American Public Health Association and the results obtained were compared with BIS and WHO standards for quality check Most of the parameters were found within the BIS permissible limits except at certain sites that include pH, and dissolved oxygen. The chemical quality parameters were within the range except the total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), nitrogen, and phosphorus. The increased level of TDS and TSS in water is attributed to LU/LC change, and soil erosion, activities in the area. Similarly, the higher nitrogen and phosphorus concentration in water is probably due to the higher utilization of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the area.