Abstract: Headstream water is the key zone for the pollution management in a basin. The pollutants imported from the basin into the headstream water can be detained or reduced, resulting in less pollutants being transported into downstream, thus beneficing the water environmental protection in the downstream rivers. This paper reviewed the studies on the nutrient retention in headstream water based on transient storage. The concept and the types of the transient storage and transient storage zones were shown, the impacts from hydrological, geomorphic and biological factors on the transient storage zones were discussed, and the effects of the transient storage zones on the nutrient retention were also addressed. Therefore,the deficiencies were proposed. It is urgent to undertake actions about the nutrient retention in headstream water based on transient storage in domestic rivers in future. The results will provide benefits for the pollution load reduction and the ecological restoration of the river corridor.

Keywords: headstream; transient storage; nutrients retention; nutrient spiraling

(Journal of China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Vol. 16, No. 4, 2018)