Understanding the impact of the changes in weather conditions on surface water quality

The aim of this paper is to better understand the functioning of the River Selle (northern France) during dry weather and storm events, to assess the impact of a town on the surface water quality and to suggest qualitative assumptions on the vulnerability of water quality to weather conditions. Two high-frequency monitoring stations covering the Cateau-Cambrésis town were deployed during 4 months in 2016. River flow, water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, conductivity, total organic carbon, nitrates and phosphates were monitored every 10 min. The water supply of the River Selle is mainly dominated by groundwater as shown by the behaviour of the river flow, the water temperature and the nitrate concentrations in both surface water and groundwater. The reference station located at the upstream of the river (Saint Souplet) exhibits low anthropogenic pressure during dry weather but is significantly impacted during storm events. At the downstream of the Cateau-Cambrésis town, the water quality is severely impacted by phosphates during dry weather mainly due to wastewater inputs into the river. An additional load of pollution is highlighted during storm events. According to our results, the water quality of the River Selle would degrade if actions to reduce dry-weather and storm events pollution sources are not undertaken rapidly. Moreover, nutrients, particularly phosphates, are clearly in excess in this system. Efforts to combat soil leaching and the revision of sewage systems and urban wastewater treatment in the catchment are two key points to tackle. Finally, this study shows the importance of understanding the current behaviour of a given river towards dry weather and storm events before suggesting local scenarios of the impact of climate change on surface water quality.