Assessment of surface water of Gulf of Kachchh, west coast of India: A chemometric approach

Highlights: • Surface water quality was investigated for Gulf of Kachchh (GoK), India. • Spatio-seasonal variation has indicated load of pollutants from various coastal activities. • Chemometrics methods such as HCA and PCA/FA indicated moderate load of pollutants. • Water quality index has suggested moderate water quality and monitoring required. • Study was useful to design effective environmental monitoring and management programs. The present study is aimed at investigation of surface water quality of Gulf of Kachchh (GoK), Gujarat. The main objective of this study was to convert complex dataset of water quality parameters from GoK into comprehensive, simple and interpretable observations. Hence, physico-chemical parameters and nutrients of surface water from GoK were analyzed. Chemometric results indicated that oxygen, salinity, dissolved solids, nutrient and natural conditions were the factors that affected surface water quality. The water quality index was calculated to identify water quality classes to evaluate the spatio-seasonal trend in the study area. The results revealed that water quality was moderate in summer, worst in pre-monsoon and best in post-monsoon. The study also highlighted that Marine National Park (Central GoK) was observed to be comparatively in good condition with abundant marine biodiversity. Thus, the results of chemometric study of water quality parameters can be a valuable tool for government authorities for sustainable development of GoK.