Application of WASP8 Deterministic Water Quality Model to Acısu Creek in Antalya, Turkey

Abstract

AbstractIncreasing urbanization, tourism and agricultural activities threaten the quality of water resources. In order to decrease this environmental threat, research studies are carried out to improve water quality status around the world. Consequently, various water quality analysis and simulation programs are used to evaluate and predict water quality for different management options. A research study has been initiated for Acısu Creek located in Antalya province of Turkey, which discharges directly to the Mediterranean Sea and impairs the sea water quality. There are intense agricultural and tourism areas within the watershed of Acısu Creek. In this study, WASP8, an open access water quality analysis and simulation program developed by US-EPA, was applied to simulate water quality at Acısu Creek. An intense monitoring program was initiated to collect the required data sets for modelling where the water quality measurement and analysis studies were conducted monthly at twelve monitoring stations for one year. This study presents the initial findings of the model calibration study which was realized using six months of monitoring data collected from September 2020 till March 2021. The predicted results of flow rate and water quality parameters were in good agreement with observations. The results of the ongoing monitoring study will be used for model verification and then several management scenarios will be tested for improving water quality.KeywordsWater quality modelWASPDeterministic modelAcısu Creek