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Estimating Fill-Spill Wetland Surface Connections in the Pipestem Creek, ND, Across Wet-Dry Conditions
Citation:
Christensen, J., G. Evenson, M. Vanderhoof, S. Leibowitz, H. Golden, AND L. Alexander. Estimating Fill-Spill Wetland Surface Connections in the Pipestem Creek, ND, Across Wet-Dry Conditions. SWS Annual Meeting, Corpus Christi, TX, May 31 - June 04, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
Different methods currently being investigated to determine the degree of surface connection between wetlands.
Description:
Wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region {PPR) can be connected via surface flows through a fill-spill mechanism, with some wetlands eventually spilling into stream/river systems. This wetland-to-wetland and wetland-to-stream connection of wetlands via fill-spill has high temporal variability. Seasonal fill-spill may be driven by spring snow-melt or by late summer rains. Annual climatological variability in the PPR results in multi-decadal drought-deluge cycles that fill or draw down wetlands. The likelihood of connection is also influenced by the topology and spatial distribution of the individual wetlands. We estimate connectedness in a PPR watershed, the Pipestem Creek, ND, using a range of models that vary in complexity including simple GIS models, remote sensing, and detailed process models. Simple topography-driven GIS models with incremental increases in rainfall were developed to show the likelihood of wetland connection and wetland-stream connection under theoretical conditions. In parallel, a more complex SWAT model was developed that uses measured rainfall data and was modified to simulate fill-spill processes of individual wetlands. We compare the various models to each other and to percent saturation measurements calculated from Landsat satellites during times of drought and deluge in the watershed. We discuss the differences between approaches and how such methodologies might be applied elsewhere in the PPR and in other wetland areas that demonstrate fill-spill processes.