Journal Article
Assessment of water quality and heavy metal environmental risk on the peri‐urban karst tropical lake La Sabana, Yucatán Peninsula
Cohou, S., Moreno‐López, A., Escamilla‐Tut, N.Y., Pérez‐Tapia, A.M., Santos‐Itzá, I., Macario‐González, L.A., Villegas‐Sánchez, C.A., Medina‐Quej, A.
Record Number:
6067
Year:
2023
Journal:
Water
Pages:
1-19
Volume:
15, 390
Notes:
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract:
Abstract: In the Yucatán Peninsula, anthropogenic activities such as urbanization and the final disposal
of solids and wastewater critically impact aquatic systems. Here, we evaluated the anthropogenic‐
related environmental alteration of Lake La Sabana, located in the northern limits of one of
the main cities of the Mexican Caribbean. We evaluated lake water quality, using physical, chemical,
and microbiological indicators, and heavy metals in surficial sediment and fish tissue to evaluate
the potential environmental risk. Multivariate analyses revealed that environmental conditions in
La Sabana are spatially and temporally heterogeneous. Medium to bad water quality was determined
within different basins by the National Sanitation Foundation water quality index, related to
the degree of anthropogenic influence at each zone. The central‐south zones displayed critical microbiological
values largely exceeding national standards. Heavy metals in sediment and fish tissue
such as Zn and Hg were relatively low, but Hg concentrations threaten the ecological environment.
Incipient wastewater treatment and its final disposal in La Sabana are mainly responsible for the
changes in the trophic status and availability of nutrients, which in turn may have promoted
changes in the biological structure and aquatic plant invasions. Lake La Sabana can be considered
a model of the potential and sequential effects of anthropogenic alterations in the oligotrophic karst
tropical aquatic systems in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Keywords: heavy metals; Lake La Sabana; Chetumal; bathymetry; water quality index
Times Cited:
3