Applied hotspot analysis in Melaka River basin

Abstract

The unorganised expansion and uncontrolled urbanisation development had led to environmental issues involved with river water pollution that occurred within the Melaka River basin. This study aims to identify pollutant sources using GIS-based pattern recognition techniques of Hotspot analysis in the river basin. The selected study area was Melaka River basin, where independent and dependent variables were land use classification and river water quality data. Both data was obtained from government and private sectors for 2015 and 2029. The result indicated that hotspot analysis with the main contributor of Melaka River pollution were S1 (VA) and S5 (NIA and IA) for both years. The findings could benefit the planners and policy makers in understanding the relationship between land use and water quality within a catchment scale to prevent further deterioration that can cause severe pollution. Land resource management adopting a sustainable development concept is considered as one of the best solutions for longterm management of the resources.