Modeling the hydrochemistry of the Choptank River basin using GWLF and Arc/Info: 2. Model Validation and Application

Abstract

We used the hydrochemical model GWLF to estimate terrestrial diffuse fluxes from ungauged areas of a coastal plain catchment, the Choptank River basin. The gauged area of the basin is 17% of the land surface, and we divided the remaining ungauged area into 21 subbasins. Three comparative approaches were used: (1) application of area yield coefficients based on 11 years of observations from the gauged area to extrapolate over ungauged subbasins without modeling, (2) application of GWLF to estimate export from all subbasins using model parameters calibrated in the gauged subbasin, and (3) application of GWLF with parameter adjustments based on the local characteristics in each subbasin. Comparison of the predicted export from 6 selected subbasins with observed export data showed that application of GWLF with local adjustments reduced model errors of N export from 43% to 27%. With only one adjustment for sediment P, application of GWLF alone reduced errors of P export from 92%to 40–45%, with or without local adjustments for flow and sediment retention. The data supported the hypothesis that significant spatial variations in N and P yields introduce large errors when extrapolating from gauged to ungauged subbasins, and estimated TN and TP yield coefficients varied over 1–21 kg N and 0.1–0.5 kg P ha−1 y−1 in ungauged areas due to varying human population densities, soil drainage characteristics, and amounts of agriculture. The most accurate estimates of terrestrial diffuse sources were combined with point source discharges and wet atmospheric inputs to estimate annual average inputs of 2.5 × 106 kg N and 5.8 × 104 kg P y−1 to the Choptank estuary during 1980–1996. These results illustrate the problems of spatial extrapolation from gauged to ungauged areas and emphasize the need for application of local characteristics for accurate assessment of watershed export.