The authors analyzed land use impacts on water quality constituents (TSS, TN, TP, DO, NO₃⁻, NH₄⁺, PO₄³⁻) in the Lower Mekong Basin. Using a best-model regression approach with anthropogenic land-use as independent variables and water quality parameters as the dependent variables, they then define reference conditions in the absence of human activities (corresponding to the intercept value). This study shows how deforestation from agriculture conversion and increasing urbanization pressure causes water quality decline in the Lower Mekong Basin, and provides a first characterization of reference water quality conditions for the Lower Mekong River and its tributaries.

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