Project Number: 6206-13610-007-22
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Apr 01, 2012
End Date: Dec 31, 2015

Objective:
In recent years there has been increased interest in a more thorough understanding and accounting of the benefits of conservation practices to fish and wildlife. By integrating the research and assessment efforts across cropland and rangeland CEAP, the ultimate goal of this research is to develop an operational framework for assessing, reporting, and forecasting benefits to the full suite of ecosystem services affected by USDA conservation programs. The objective of this study is to construct, calibrate, validate and run land use and climate scenarios for SWAT simulations across the Western Lake Erie Basin. The SWAT outputs will be used as in-stream habitat predictor variables and will serve as inputs to the models developed to model biological indicators across the Western Lake Erie Basin.

Approach:
The general approach is to link SWAT model output on stream flow and water quality to models that predict fish populations and habitat suitability. Data on soils, land cover and management, climate, flow and water quality will be assembled to develop input data and calibration data for the SWAT model of the Western Lake Erie Basin. We will ensure that geospatial identifiers of all stream networks are cross-walked to the common 1:100,000 scale National Hydrography Dataset network. Biological indicators will be developed from SWAT model output and the impact of climate and conservation practices on fish health will be determined.