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INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale
The rational use and protection of water resources and supplying humankind with
adequate clean fresh water, or, have been concisely," water problems" were among today's
most acute and complex scientific and technical problems. They increasingly reached beyond
national and regional borders and were becoming global in nature. Shortages of fresh water
and the increasing pollution of water bodies were becoming limiting factors in the economic
and social development of many countries throughout the world, even countries not located in
arid zones (Gleick,1993). Water was the most valuable resource and the most passionately
contested (Strang, 2020). Water has become one of the most important issues of our time
(Gray,2017). Water was essential to human life and to the health of the environment. In fact, it
was an ultimate resource. Without water, humans and other living organisms in the
ecosystem could not survive. Water made life possible on earth and it came from the river that
flowed towards the seas. By original usage, a river flowed in a channel with defined banks.
Modern usage includes rivers that were multichannel, intermittent, or ephemeral in flow and
channels that were particularly bankless (Edra et al., 1998). Water was never just water. It was
always more. It had its own ways of world-making and was much more than just a substance
or a commodity. Water was also a focal point of religious meanings and inspires cultural
practices(Hahn et.al.,2012).
A river was a body of water that was characterized by discharge and an unstable
channel and morphology (Barnes, 1991). Large river systems support aquatic life, provided
water for drinking and irrigation, enable transportation, and accepted and dilute wastewater
discharges. Normally rivers were having a wide range of plants and animals also all the main
groups of organisms were present in rivers (Haslam, 1990). The groups of organisms that could be
found in rivers were birds, freshwater fish, reptiles, amphibians, protozoa, bacteria, and
microorganisms. Rivers provided excellent habitat and food for many of the earth’s
organisms. It comprises a large, natural stream of flowing water. Naturally, it could be found on
every continent and every kind of land. Some flowed all year around and others flowed
seasonally (Natural Geographic Society, 2017).
A river could be used for many purposes, including providing drinking water, food,
transportation, and irrigation for agricultural purposes. The residents that lived beside the
Lugait River rely on its resources. Several activities occur in the area such as bathing and the
disposal of waste agriculture, detergent, and other activities that occur nearby.
Conceptual framework of the study
To know the present condition of the Lugait River the study looked at the different
components of the river including the river itself. The Lugait River is a natural flowing water
that continues in a long line across the and to the sea. The status of a river is based on its
physical and chemical state as well as the presence of biological indicators of river health,
such as benthic macroinvertebrates. Activities in the surrounding watershed like farming,
swimming, fishing, and laundry also affect conditions. The community’s socio-demographic
characteristics, as well as their knowledge, perception, and attitude, also affected the river
condition. The LGU’s river conservation and management undertakings also affected the
river.

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the study

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1.2. General objectives of the study
To assess the Lugait River's condition through the analysis of benthic
macroinvertebrates and some physico-chemical parameters.

1.2.1. Specific objectives

i. To identify the different benthic macroinvertebrate species that exist in the Lugait
River.

ii. To determine the condition of the river through analysis of some physico-chemical
parameters such as pH, depth, temperature, width, stream velocity, D.O, TSS,
TDS, phosphate, nitrate, and nitrite

iii. To assess the community's knowledge, perception, and attitude toward the river's
current state.

1.3. Significance of the study

The outcome of this study hoped to provide recent information on the condition of
benthic macroinvertebrates and the water condition of Lugait River. The result of the study is
hoped to be used as an updated reference for future researchers and is hoped to provide
resource managers with information for use in possible conservation and management plans.

1.4. Scope and limitations of the study

This study would be limited and focused on the types of benthic macro invertebrates
in the area, and the analysis of physico-chemical parameters analysis such as pH, stream
velocity, temperature, depth, dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids,
phosphate, and nitrate; and interviews of households living along the whole length of the river
from Upper Talacogon to Macao.

1.5. Definitions of terms

Attitude encompasses a number of relatively enduring tendencies in order to accept or reject
an object, concept, or entity (Schaefer, 1989).

Benthic macro Invertebrates are the most used group of freshwater organisms in assessing
water quality. They offer many advantages in biomonitoring although a practice for
well-balanced monitoring programs such as quantitative sampling and community
analysis (Rosenberg and Resh, 1993).

Bio-indicator is an oversight term that describes all sources of biotic and abiotic reactions
related to changes in a given ecosystem. Instead of simply working as measures of
natural change, taxa are used to show the effects of natural changes in the
environment, or changes in the ecosystem. They are habitually used to identify and
signify negative or positive effects in natural environments. (Zaghloul et al., 2020).

Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a standard method for measuring the amount of
organic pollution in a sample of water indirectly using bacteria and other
microorganisms, which feed on organic matter in the presence of oxygen. The results
of a BOD test show the amount of oxygen (water-dissolved) that is consumed by
microbes in five days. The higher the BOD, the higher the amount of pollution in the
test sample( Clark,2022).

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Confluence of rivers is defined as a meeting point of two or more rivers. In other words, it
usually refers to the point where a tributary joins a major river, called the mainstream.
In general, downstream of the confluence, the river having the combined flow of
rivers/streams is known as the main stream, but in some cases a new name is also
given to the river after the meeting of two streams/rivers. (Chaudhary, 2011).

Descriptive statistics is the term given to the analysis of data that helps describe, show or
summarize data in a meaningful way such that, for example, patterns might emerge
from the data (Mertes,2009).

Dissolved is also called dissolution. Typically, this involves a solid going into a liquid phase,
but dissolution can involve other transformations as well. (Helmenstine, 2019).

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is a measure of how much oxygen is dissolved in the water - the
amount of oxygen available to living aquatic organisms. The amount of dissolved
oxygen in a stream or lake can tell us a lot about its water quality. (USGS.gov, 2018).

Knowledge is the total range of what has been learned or perceived as true. The information
is accumulated through experience, study, or investigation (Schaefer, 1989).

Macroinvertebrates are organisms that lack a spine and are big enough to be seen with the
naked eye. (Rones, 2018).

Nitrate is a chemical compound consisting of nitrogen and oxygen. It is an ion with the
chemical formula NO 3 -. (Mishra, 2019).

Pathogens are disease-causing microorganisms (Tortura et al., 2001).

pH refers to the negative logarithm of hydrogen ion concentration of a solution expressed in

gram equivalent per liter (POE,2000).

Phosphate-P is a growth-limiting nutrient in water bodies that if it is excess can cause algal
blooms which are harmful to most aquatic organisms that can decrease dissolved
oxygen levels in the water (Mckay, 1997).

River is a ribbon-like body of water that flows downhill from the force of gravity. A river can
be wide and deep, or shallow enough for a person to wade across. A flowing body of
water that is smaller than a river is called a stream, creek, or brook. (Loper, 2022).

Stratified sampling is a method of random sampling where researchers first divide a

population into smaller subgroups, or strata, based on shared characteristics of the
members and then randomly select among these groups to form the final sample.
(Simkus, 2022).

Temperature is a quantitative measure of the tendency of heat to flow in a given direction

using one of a number or arbitrary scales based on an observable phenomenon (U.S
EPA, 2005)

Total Suspended Solid is also referred to as total non-filterable residue. This refers to the
materials left in the vessels after evaporation of sample and its subsequent drying in
the oven at atemperature 103-105 C (U.S EPA, 2005).

Water quality is a term used to describe the chemical, physical, and biological
characteristics of water, usually in respect to its suitability for a particular purpose
(POE, 2000)