Citation:

Teklitz, A., C. Nietch, T. Whiteaker, M. Riasi, D. Maidment, AND L. Yeghiazarian. Stochastic reliability-based risk evaluation and mapping for watershed systems and sustainability (STREAMS). JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 596:126030, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126030

Impact/Purpose:

Microbial surface water contamination can disrupt critical ecosystem services such as recreation and drinking water supplies. Assessment of water resources sustainability are challenging due to the complexity of environmental systems and stochastic variability of processes that drive contaminant fate and transport. System reliability theory is proposed as a framework to address these issues and to methodically study component interactions within the system, as well as their individual and combined impact on water quality and sustainability.

Description:

Mitigating water contamination, improving water security, and increasing sustainability involve environmental awareness and conscientious decision-making by denizens and stakeholders. Achieving such awareness requires visually compelling geospatial decision-making tools that take into account the probabilistic and spatially distributed nature of water contamination. Inspired by the success of weather maps, this paper presents a novel STochastic Reliability-based Risk Evaluation And Mapping for watershed Systems and Sustainability (STREAMS) tool that produces and effectively communicates the risk of water contamination as maps. STREAMS is integrated with ArcGIS geoprocessing tools and uses physics-based reliability theory to compute the spatial distribution of risk, which is defined as the probability of exceeding a safety threshold of water contamination within a watershed. A quantitative analysis of the efficacy of mitigation strategies is conducted by estimating risk reduction from best management practices throughout the entire watershed. Two case studies at different spatial scales are presented, demonstrating STREAMS application to watersheds with varied properties.

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