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Title: Modeling coastal plain drainage ditches with SWAT

Author
item Sadeghi, Ali
item SEXTON, AISHA - University Of Maryland
item SHIRMOHAMMADI, ADEL - University Of Maryland
item McCarty, Gregory
item LANG, MEGAN - Us Forest Service (FS)
item HIVELY, DEAN - Us Geological Survey (USGS)

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/22/2011
Publication Date: 9/26/2011
Citation: Sadeghi, A.M., Sexton, A., Shirmohammadi, A., McCarty, G.W., Lang, M., Hively, D. 2011. Modeling coastal plain drainage ditches with SWAT [abstract]. 4th Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds. 2011 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In the low-relief Eastern Shore region of Maryland, extensive land areas used for crop production require drainage systems either as tile drains or open ditches. The prevalence of drainage ditches in the region is being linked to increased nutrient loading of the Chesapeake Bay. Process-based water quality watershed models are being used to simulate the fate and transport of water and harmful chemicals for the purpose of mitigating contamination. In order to estimate water quality conditions as accurately as possible, important landscape features such as drainage ditches should be properly considered in modeling tools. Our research site, Tuckahoe watershed (~400 km2), located in the Coastal Plain physiographic region of Maryland, also contains extensive open ditches. In this study, the streamflow component of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) watershed model was calibrated and tested to determine differences in streamflow estimation using a stream network delineated from a 2 meter DEM and a stream network edited to integrate drainage ditches into the network. It is expected that model simulation results will clarify whether ditch-integrated stream networks will provide improvement in stream flow estimation and therefore potentially improve simulation of water quality constituents.