Land Use Effects on Water Quality at Different Sites along the River Literature review

Land Use Effects on Water Quality at Different Sites along the River Ribble - Literature review Example Several scholars have released many notable works regarding river preservation. This literature review will explore the important points stated by some of them and discover how various methods suggested by them will be useful to protect the unique nature of the river Ribble in England. River Ribble situated on the North Western part of England is an important river in the UK. River Ribble originates in the Yorkshire Dales region and flows east draining into the Irish Sea. River Ribble covers nearly 110 Km from its starting point to the joint where it merges with the Irish Sea. Five rivers - Darwen, Douglas, Calder, Hodder and Ribble - drain into the Ribble estuary. The Ribble River is home to thousands of different birds and fishes. The Ribble estuary is one of the biggest in the UK. The 7 km stretch of the River Ribble starting from Settle and lasting till Cow Bridge is considered as a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)’. The area is home to nearly 34,000 birds and n umerous fishes like Atlantic salmon, crayfish and unique organisms like Eurasian otter. River Ribble is considered as one of the important wetland sites in the UK, as it is teeming with high biodiversity. The latest research conducted in 2011 suggests a large part of this 7 km stretch is rendered ‘unfavourable’ because of constant flooding and high pollution levels. As a result a fully fledged Long Preston Deeps SSSI River Restoration Plan was launched in 2010 (Natural England, 2011). Several organizations, like the EU Water Framework Directive, work with the aim of restoring the natural features of the Ribble basin as it is being polluted severely in the recent years owing to various reasons. All over the world, there are four main reasons for river basins getting polluted drastically. 1. The first major reason is sewage discharge. Human faecal discharges are a major form of water pollutant even in developed Western countries. Sewage disposal is usually released into t he river in from of outfall pipes, by dumping the sewage sludge in the rivers or through the wash water which brings with it an enormous amount of animal waste and fertilizers used in the adjoining lands. Converting the marshlands close to the river into agricultural lands will increase this problem by many folds. Domestic waste, organic wastes, industrial wastes everything forms a part of this sewage. The same water is purified using chlorine in the drinking water treatment plants. Excess chlorine addition to water increases the rate of bladder and colon cancer in people drinking them for many years (Perera & Boffetta, 1988). 2. Water discharges released from cooling plants in power stations and fertilizer producing companies can alter the natural temperature of the river disturbing its habitat enormously. 3. Industrial and toxic wastes like organocholrines and radioactive wastes are dumped into the river. They make the river water poisonous reducing its quantity and aqua life seve rely. 4. Agriculture and horticulture use fertilizers extensively. When they are washed into the river, the natural nutrient content in the river is increased leading to the growth of harmful plants like phytoplanktons. Algal blooms also occur. They will absorb too much water for their growth killing the river eventually. Controlling intensive farming in areas very close to the river is a must to save it (Falconer et al, 2005). It is a well known fact that the effluent from the