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Estimating Nitrogen Loading in the Wabash River Subwatershed Using a GIS Schematic Processing Network in Support of Sustainable Watershed Management Planning
Citation:
Yang, G., P. BEST, A. Teklitz, T. Whiteaker, L. Yeghiazarian, AND D. Maidment. Estimating Nitrogen Loading in the Wabash River Subwatershed Using a GIS Schematic Processing Network in Support of Sustainable Watershed Management Planning. Presented at American Water Resources Association (AWRA) 2012 Spring Specialty Conference, New Orleans, LA, March 26 - 28, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
The Wabash River is a tributary of the Ohio River. This river system consists of headwaters and small streams, medium river reaches in the upper Wabash watershed, and large river reaches in the lower Wabash watershed. A large part of the river system is situated in agricultural areas where sediments and nutrients may enter the river with runoff during extreme wet-weather events, significantly contributing to the nitrogen and phosphorus loads in the Ohio River, and ultimately contributing to the anoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The Tippecanoe River is composed of headwaters and small streams, provides valuable habitat, and protects and conserves floodplain areas for water quality and minimization of catastrophic flooding events. Considerable planning is ongoing to manage the Tippecanoe and upper Wabash Rivers sustainably through wetland enhancement, floodplain reconnection, and the implementation of two-stage ditches to limit sediment and nutrient influxes from agricultural areas into surface waters. The objective of this study is to increase the understanding of spatial and temporal patterns of the non-point and point source discharges of nitrogen (N) in the Wabash River watershed, since this information can be used as a basis for the planning of best management practices limiting N loads downstream. The Schematic Processor is a suite of ArcGIS processing tools that uses a node and link model to represent a dendritic watershed network; and pass load values through the network using assigned functions. This tool is used to calculate the nitrogen loads and transport for the watershed, and to explore the potential effects of the implementation of BMPs and/or alternative load allocations in support of sustainable watershed management planning.