Water quality surveillance of small inland wetlands integrating multi-dimensional drivers

Small inland wetlands, despite their pivotal roles in supporting aquatic biodiversity and local livelihoods, remain understudied and vulnerable to rapid degradation. This study investigates small wetlands in India’s Ganjam District, hypothesizing that urban pressures accelerate degradation, with light pollution and population density serving as effective water quality predictors. To test these assumptions, we measured 25 physicochemical variables and focused on 11 key parameters for the CCME water quality index (WQI). The scores ranged from 43 to 71, with 63% of sites rated ‘marginal’, reflecting elevated ammonium (> 0.5 mg L⁻1), turbidity (> 10 NTU), total Fe (> 2 mg L⁻1), and organic loads in most sites. We supplemented these data with night‐light intensity and population density rasters. Two principal components jointly explained approximately 50% of the total data variability. The first component and hierarchical clustering revealed a dominant brackish axis driven by salinity, hardness, TDS; and a turbidity–nutrient axis capturing total phosphorus, suspended solids, and turbidity. Meanwhile, light pollution and population density showed strong negative correlations with WQI, highlighting their power to track anthropogenic influence beyond conventional chemical variables. This study reiterates that fact that surveillance of smaller ecosystems can be a more representative and realistic reflection of overall habitat quality in any region, as compared with the perceived notion of focusing on larger ecosystems in sync with the SLOSS theory. The insights highlight the need for integrated management addressing both nutrient regulation and socioeconomic pressures to protect fragile waterbodies.