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Are the headwaters clean? An assessment of water quality of alpine lakes in Kailash landscape, upper Bhaderwah, Jammu & Kashmir.
| Environmental Monitoring and Assessment | Dutt V, Jamwal KD, Slathia D, Sharma N. | 198:466.
Hydrochemistry india Neeru watershed Other

Abstract

Original abstract online at
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10661-026-15301-5

Alpine lakes exhibit a distinct physicochemical character compared to other aquatic systems shaped by rugged terrain and extreme environmental conditions. The nival summits of upper Bhaderwah, known as the Kailash landscape, are dotted with a group of alpine lakes yet to be examined for water quality, thus prompting the current investigation. The water sampling and analysis were performed for nineteen major water quality parameters in six alpine lakes, comprising three primary (Kali Kund, Kailash Kund, and Shiv Kund) and their associated lakes (Mahakal Kund, Rishi Sar, and Vishi Sar) during September 2021, 2023, and 2024. All the major physicochemical parameters, including water temperature, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, carbonates, bicarbonates, total alkalinity, chloride, nitrate, sulphate, phosphate, fluoride, calcium, magnesium, total hardness, sodium, and potassium ions, exhibited low to very low values with slight deviations among the water bodies. The Gibbs plot suggested that the lakes are regulated by precipitation, while the Piper diagram indicated a Calcium-bicarbonate water type. The results indicate the pristine water quality of the alpine lakes, however, the increased anthropogenic activities may impair the water quality if appropriate management measures are not adopted. The findings call for long-term ecological monitoring of these high-altitude lakes.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Department of Wildlife Protection, Jammu Division, J&K for funding this study. Thanks are also due to Rector, Bhaderwah Campus and Head, Department of Environmental Sciences for the adminsitrarive support. Authors are thankful to Anil Thakar, Ajaz Ansari, Nitika Khullar, Mohd. Tehseen, Nissar Rather and Amjad for accompanying the team to the field and to Tsering Dolkar for her help in the estimation of fluoride.

Funding

The project is funded by the Department of Wildife Protection, Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir vide approval 3616–2-WLW/J, Dated: 30–09-2022.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Mountain Environment, University of Jammu, Jammu, India

    Vandana Dutt

  2. Department of Higher Education, Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir, Jammu, India

    Karan Dev Jamwal

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Jammu, Jammu, India

    Deepika Slathia & Neeraj Sharma

Contributions

NS and DS were responsible for fund acquisition and project administration, conceptualized the study, designed the methodology, reviewed and revised the draft and communicated; VD, KJ and NS collected the field data and performed analysis; VD did the formal analysis, data curation and visualization and wrote the original draft; DS reviewed and edited the original draft.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Deepika Slathia or Neeraj Sharma.

Ethics declarations

All authors have read, understood, and have complied as applicable with the statement on ‘Ethical responsibilities of Authors’ as found in the Instructions for Authors.

Ethical approval

All work was carried out following the rules and regulations governing the biodiversity, wildlife, and protected areas in the region. Required permission was taken from the concerned authorities. No harm was done to the flora and fauna for this study.

Informed consent

All authors consent to participate in this work. All authors agreed with the content and consent to publish the research presented in this work.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

References

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