Abstract
Erosion prediction is an important component in the development of land management strategies and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies where sediment is identified as a stressor. Studies have shown that streambank retreat rates may contribute as much as 85% to the total sediment load in some watersheds (Simon, et al., 2000). For TMDL studies where sediment is identified as the cause of impairment, detailed process-based software programs are often avoided due to the high input data requirements. The required data simply do not exist or collecting the data is prohibitively expensive and/or time consuming. Hydrologic software such as the Generalized Watershed Loading Function (GWLF), Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), and CONservational Channel Erosion and Pollutant Transport System (CONCEPTS) include channel degradation sub-models. The channel degradation routines used in these models vary from highly empirical to predominately process-based. Little research has been done to compare the effectiveness of these models in predicting erosion of the stream bed and banks. Stroubles Creek in southwestern Virginia, USA was included on the Virginia 1996 303(d) impaired waters report for impairment of the benthic macroinvertebrate community. A TMDL study to address this impairment was completed in 2003 with sediment established as the primary stressor. The experimental site used in this study consists of a 500-m reach of Stroubles Creek in Blacksburg, Virginia. Data developed for the TMDL study were used to generate “typical” input parameters for GWLF, SWAT, and CONCEPTS. Stroubles Creek erosion data collected using erosion pins, scour chains, and topographic surveying will be used to evaluate software performance. Software output will be evaluated statistically using multiple comparison tests and regression analysis; qualitative assessment will be based on a comparison of the time requirements and complexity of software development.
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