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In the Pearl River Delta (PRD), river water quality deteriorates continually due to the population increase and ongoing industrialization and urbanization. In this study, a water quality management paradigm based on the seasonal variation is proposed. For better exploring the seasonal change of water quality, wavelet analysis was used to analyze the division of dry and wet seasons in the PRD during 1952PRD during -2009. Then water quality seasonal variation in 2008 and relevant impact factors were analyzed by multivariate statistic methods as a case to make some management measures. The results show that there are some differences of dry and wet seasons division among different years. Wet season mainly appear from April to September, which occupy the largest proportion among the 58 years (about 70%) and then followed by the wet season from May to October (about 13.8% of the total years). As to the water quality of 2008, significant differences exist between dry and wet seasons for 17 water quality parameters except TP, NO À 3 , Fe 2þ , and Zn 2þ . Levels of parameters pH, EC, COD Mn , BOD 5 , NH þ 4 , SO 2À 4 , and Cl À in dry season are much higher than those in wet season. In dry season the variations of river water quality are mainly influenced by domestic sewage, industrial effluents, and salt water intrusion. While in wet season, except the aforementioned pollution sources, drainages from cultivated land and livestock farm are also the main factors influencing water pollution. Thus, water quality management measures are proposed in dry and wet seasons, respectively. The results obtained from this study would further facilitate water quality protection and water resources management in the PRD.

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