Land Cover Change and Water Quality: How Remote Sensing Can Help Understand Driver–Impact Relations in the Lake Titicaca Basin

The increase of human interventions and developments are modifying the land use/land cover (LULC) global landscape, thus severely affecting water quality rivers lakes. Appropriate management effective policy required to deal with problems surface contamination around globe. However, spatiotemporal variations its complex relation (LC) changes, challenge adequate resources management. In this study, we explored use remote sensing relate LC change in Katari River Basin (KRB) located Bolivian Andes on shores Lake Titicaca, order support An unsupervised classification Landsat 7 satellite images trajectory analysis was applied understand modifications through time. addition, water-quality indicators at outlet basin were retrieved from remote-sensing temporal behavior analyzed. results show that expansion urban areas is predominant environmental driver KRB, which has great impact Titicaca. We conclude there a strong link between rapid growth industrial detriment river lake quality. This case study shows how can help driver–impact relations.