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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fayetteville, Arkansas » Poultry Production and Product Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #176495
Title: COUPLING OF CE-QUAL-W2 AND SWAT TO SIMULATE WATERSHED-RESERVOIR NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

Author
item WHITE, KATI - UNIV OF ARKANSAS
item CHAUBEY, INDRAJEET - UNIV OF ARKANSAS
item Haggard, Brian

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/4/2004
Publication Date: 1/23/2005
Citation: White, K.L., Chaubey, I., Haggard, B.E. 2005. Coupling of CE-QUAL-W2 and SWAT to simulate watershed-reservoir nutrient management. In: Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences. 1st International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology, January 23-26, 2005, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2005 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Management of reservoir nutrient loading requires an understanding of watershed nutrient sources, transport, and delivery; these processes are most efficiently evaluated using computer models. We linked established reservoir and watershed models to evaluate lentic water quality response to watershed land management for the Beaver Reservior Watershed in Northwest Arkansas. The objectives of this project were to 1)link the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) watershed model and CE-QUAL-W2 (W2) reservoir model so that daily SWAT predictions could become input for W2; 2) use the linked modeling tool to simulate "what if" scenarios for risk-based assessment of reservior response to specific watershed management scenarios; and 3) identify watershed managment scenarios that minimize nutrient and chlorophyll-a concentrations in the photic zone at municipal drinking water withdrawals. The SWAT and W2 models were calibrated using a multi-objective function that included multiple calibration sites and muliple water quality parameters. The modeling time period was from 1999 to 2002. The linked, calibrated models were assessed to validate their appropriateness in this application by confirming common reservoir nutrient longitudinal trends and reservoir temperature profiles. Once the modeling technique was validated, scenarios were input into the SWAT model that considered nutrient sources, transport, and delivery from the watershed. Scenarios included watershed management practices such as commercial fertilizers, animal wastes, and point source discharges. Scenario results were compared for relative differences amongst one another and the calibrated models on a seasonal and annual basis.