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Land use and land cover (LULC) changes are two main factors that contribute to the decreasing quality of water. This research aims to assess the impacts of land use and land cover changes on the river basin towards water quality of Cirarab River. The method of this study is GIS analyzes with data land use/land cover changes from 2013 to 2018. The water quality is analyzed based on Government Regulation No. 82/2001 about Water Quality Management and Water Pollution Control. Furthermore, the potential pollution load originating from residential and industrial activities on the riverside calculated and compared to the maximum pollutant load. Water samples were collected five times a day in three locations: Curug Kulon, Cukang Galih, and Kadu Jaya. The result showed the percentage of land use in the river basin, namely: housing (17.08%-46.28%), industry (8.08%-21.32%), and paddy field (14.78%-47.69%). Between 2013 and 2018, housing/residential and industrial areas increased respectively of 0.14%-85.86% and 0.02%-8.51%; meanwhile, the paddy field area decreased by 0.07% - 58.22%. The calculation results of potential pollution load amounted to 2035.29 kgBOD/day (91.1% of the total maximum pollution load (2234.30 kgBOD/day)) and 2748 kgCOD/day (14.76% of the total maximum pollution load (18619.20 kgCOD/day)). This study found that the values of river water quality parameter have exceeded the standard. The value  ranged as follows: the temperature (28.0-30.1oC), pH (6.77-8.08), COD (15-124 mg/l), and BOD (3-57 mg/l).  Almost all monitoring points of  COD and BOD parameters exceed the specified quality standard.  In general, the water sample collected from the river basin with shrubs/vacant land has relatively better water quality compared to those collected from residential and industrial areas. These results help to understand the impacts of land use to water quality, useful to formulate river management strategy and land use management in the river basin.

land-use change; land-cover; water quality; pollution load; river.