Assessment of the impact of forests on the water quality of Çankırı Eldivan reservoirs

Although there are many ponds covering 15 000 ha surface area in Turkey, there is not enough data about the limnological status of these ponds. Ponds,like lakes, are threatened by eutrophication and decreasing in water level. Determining limnological characteristics of these ponds must be the first step for sustainable management of these aquatic systems. Water demand is increasing day to day because of rapid growth of human population, urbanization and industry. However, water quality is deteriorating due to climate change and human activities. 50% of surface waters and 80% of drinking water are being produced in forest areas. Thus, ecological and hydrological functions of forest should be used efficiently. Forest are especially important for ponds and reservoirs which are constructed for collecting water. In this study, it was aimed to reveal the impact of forest on pond's water quality by quantitative data. Limnological monitoring was carried out between February and October 2018 in order to determine the effect of forest existence on the limnological characteristics of the Karadere and Seydi ponds (Çankırı-Eldivan). The trophic state of both of the lakes were oligo-mesotrophic. However, with the effect of the presence of forests, it was determined that the water quality in Karadere pond was better than that of Seydi pond in terms of ammonium, total nitrogen and light permeability. In addition, the basic characteristics of watersheds of ponds were determined by using Geographical Information Systems and a data infrastructure which can be used in similar studies in the future was prepared.