Water Environment Characteristics at the Foot of Mt. Yatsugatake, Nagano Prefecture

Abstract

Many springs exit at the southern foot of Mt. Yatsugatake. In this study, we estimated the water environment characteristics of the spring water and mountain stream water at the area around Mt. Yatsugatake in Nagano Prefecture. As a result, concentrations of nitrogen were low in both water sources. Notably, the nitrogen concentration in the spring water was constant throughout the year. Furthermore, there were larger seasonal variations in the concentrations of phosphorus in the mountain stream than in the spring water. Concentrations of major ions were minimal by precipitation, and the effluent loads in the spring water were strongly correlated with water quantity.