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Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA): Applications for Assessing the Impact of Urban Growth and the use of Low Impact Development Practices.
Citation:
Korgaonkar, Y., I. Burns, C. Unkrich, G. Sidman, D. Guertin, D. Goodrich, AND W. Kepner. Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA): Applications for Assessing the Impact of Urban Growth and the use of Low Impact Development Practices. In Proceedings, SEDHYD 2015 Conference, Reno, NV, April 19 - 23, 2015. Urban & Fischer Verlag, 1795-1796, (2015).
Impact/Purpose:
Using the U.S. EPA Integrated Climate and Land Use Scenarios (ICLUS) database, AGWA can modify model input parameters to reflect the future effect of urban development under different climate change and growth conditions. Simulations of current conditions and projected future conditions will allow managers to identify areas at risk from future flooding and water quality impairment.
Description:
New tools and functionality have been incorporated into the Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA) to assess the impact of urban growth and evaluate the effects of low impact development (LID) practices. AGWA (see: www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/agwa or http://www.epa.gov/esd/land-sci/agwa/) is a GIS interface jointly developed by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Arizona, and the University of Wyoming to automate the parameterization and execution of a suite of hydrologic and erosion models (RHEM, WEPP, KINEROS2 and SWAT). Through an intuitive interface the user selects an outlet from which AGWA delineates and discretizes the watershed using a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The watershed model elements are then intersected with terrain, soils, and land cover data layers to derive the requisite model input parameters. Using the U.S. EPA Integrated Climate and Land Use Scenarios (ICLUS) database, AGWA can modify model input parameters to reflect the future effect of urban development under different climate change and growth conditions. Simulations of current conditions and projected future conditions will allow managers to identify areas at risk from future flooding and water quality impairment. Tools have been developed to assess the effect of LID practices (i.e. water harvesting, pervious surfaces, streamside conservation zones, filter strips, and variable density development, modification of channels, artificial wetlands, and wet and dry stormwater detention basins).