ASSESMENT OF DIFFUSE POLLUTION IN THE WATERSHED SCALE:

A CASE STUDY FOR WATERSHEDS OF TURKEY, SEYHAN AND CEYHAN

E. Atasoy, B.H. Gürsoy, İ. Tan, E. Kuzyaka, S. Dağlı, S. Ayaz and L. Akça

*TÜBİTAK-MRC Environment Institute, Gebze-Kocaeli, TURKEY, elif.atasoy@mam.gov.tr

** Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ankara, TURKEY

Increasing water demand due to increasing population, scarcity of water resources,

overconsumption and pollution of water in parallel to developing industrial and agricultural
activities increased the importance of water resources management on watershed basis. Turkey
has already initiated projects on watershed action plans (WAP) within the past few years. Within the
Projects, actual situation of those watersheds was determined regarding water resources potential,
point and diffused source of pollution and water quality in order to define pollution prevention
and water resource protection measures.
Calculation of diffuse pollution loads is aimed in this study. Pollution load calculations for
diffuse sources were carried out by using a practical methodology in a simple manner. The unit
loads of each pollution source were selected from the depicted ranges cited in literature. All data
was shown in maps prepared with GIS.
In this context, the estimation of various types of diffuse pollutant loads will be detailed by
comparing 2 Mediterranean watersheds of Turkey, Seyhan and Ceyhan. The surface areas of the
watersheds are 2,213,415 ha and 2,149,028 ha, respectively. Both of them have the most fertile
areas in Turkey. The prevailing land-use distribution according to CORINE classification is
shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Land-use distribution for Seyhan and Ceyhan Watersheds according to CORINE classification
Agricultural Areas Forests Meadows and Pasture Settlements
Seyhan Watershed 40% 13% 45% 3%
Ceyhan Watershed 50% 14% 18% 1%
The different types of diffuse pollutants in the watershed arise from agricultural land, livestock
breeding, forests, meadows and pasture, unsanitary dumpsites, urban and rural run-off, septic
tank effluents and atmospheric deposition. TN and TP are the two nutrients through which diffuse
pollutants are estimated.
For both Ceyhan and Seyhan Watersheds diffuse TN and TP loads dominantly results from
agricultural activities. This is followed by livestock breeding. TN and TP loads are mapped
according to the administrative districts in Figure1.
In the full manuscript the details of the practical methodology used will be detailed and besides,
the control actions to be taken towards diminishing the diffuse loads in future will be outlined.
Especially ecological agriculture is recommended is a stepwise manner for future.

(a) (b)
Figure1.Diffuse TN and TP loads for Ceyhan (a) and Seyhan (b) Watersheds according to the districts
 Sunday 25th of September

Sunday 25th of September

Conference Room A
Sustainable water management
Chairpersons: B. Topkaya, I. Sainis
00 30
9 –9 SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT: WHAT ARE THE PRIORITIES?
01-o-01 Invited Speaker: C. Hayes
College of Engineering, Swansea University, United Kingdom
930 - 950 ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION OF CONSTRUCTED
01-o-02 WETLAND SYSTEMS FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT
D.G. Gikas and V.A. Tsihrintzis
Democritus University of Thrace, Environmental Engineering, Greece
950 – 1010 ASSESSMENT OF DIFFUSE POLLUTION IN THE WATERSHED SCALE: A CASE
01-o-03 STUDY FOR WATERSHEDS OF TURKEY, SEYHAN AND CEYHAN
E. Atasoy, B.H. Gürsoy, İ. Tan, E. Kuzyaka, S. Dağlı, S. Ayaz and L. Akça
Tübitak-Marmara Research Center, Environment Institute, Turkey
1010 – 1030 DROUGHT ANALYSIS OF KONYA CLOSED BASIN (TURKEY) FOR 1972-2009
01-o-04 PERIOD
S. Dogan, A. Berktay, and V.P. Singh
Texas A&M University, Dept. of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, USA
1030 - 1050 IMPOSEX AS SURVEILLANCE BIOMONITORING TOOL OF POLLUTION BY
01-o-05 THE ANTIFOULING AGENT, TBT AFTER ITS BAN: MALTA, A CASE STUDY.
V.Axiak, R.Guillaumier, P. Herrera, and N. Vella
University of Malta, Dept. of Biology, Malta

1050 – 1120 Coffee Break at Poster Room

Chairpersons: C. Hayes, K. Vareli

20 50
11 – 11 EXCEED – EXCELLENCE CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION
01-o-06 SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Invited Speaker: M. Bahadir
Techn. University of Braunschweig, Institute of Environmental and
Sustainable Chemistry,Germany
1150 – 1210 HEAVY METALS IN SOIL, SEDIMENTS, WATER AND MUSSELS IN BUTRINTI
01-o-07 LAGOON
A. Bani, T. Topi, J. Malltezi, and S. Sulce
Agricultural University of Tirana, Dept. of Agrienvironment and Ecology,
Albania

10