Impacts of Urbanization on Land Use and Water Quality in Xi' an during 1996 and 2003

We carried out a preliminary investigation into the relationship between urbanization, land use cover change and river water quality in XiŽan during 1996 and 2003. LUCC was retrieved by supervised classification of satellite images in different time periods, followed by GIS layers analysis. It revealed that patterns of land use cover changed dramatically under rapid urbanization process. River water quality at various sites among main urban rivers was analyzed by use of comprehensive evaluation of pollution indices, and then the trends of water quality change were compared with changes in the rates of urbanization and land use change. The results showed that rapid degradation of water quality corresponded to rapid urbanization. It was also discovered that urban land uses were positively correlated with the degradation of urban river water quality. Increasing business activities such as industrial factories, food services and agricultural fertilizers contributed the degradation of river water quality. The paper concluded the need for comprehensive land use planning as a way of protecting valuable water resources.