Miami River Research Articles

Implementing constructed wetlands for nutrient reduction at watershed scale: Opportunity to link models and real-world execution.

The negative effects of nutrient pollution in streams, rivers, and downstream waterbodies remain widespread global problems. Understanding the cost-effectiveness of different strategies for mitigating nutrient pollution is critical to making informed decisions and defining expectations that best utilize limited resources, which is a research priority for the US Environmental Protection Agency. To this end, we modeled nutrient management practices including residue management, cover crops, filter strips, grassed waterways, constructed wetlands, and reducing fertilizer in the upper East Fork of the Little Miami River, an 892 km2 watershed in southwestern Ohio, United States. The watershed is 64% agriculture with 422 km2 of row crops contributing an estimated 71% of the system's nutrient load. The six practices were modeled to treat row crop area, and among them, constructed wetlands ranked highest for their low costs per kilogram of nutrient removed. To meet a 42% phosphorus (P) reduction target for row crops, the model results suggested that the runoff from 85.5% of the row crop area would need to be treated by the equivalent of 3.61 km2 of constructed wetlands at an estimated cost of US$2.4 million annually (or US$48.5 million over a 20-year life cycle). This prompted a series of projects designed to understand the feasibility (defined in terms of build, treatment, and cost potential) of retrofitting the system with the necessary extent of constructed wetlands. The practicalities of building this wetland coverage into the system, while leading to innovation in unit-level design, has highlighted the difficulty of achieving the nutrient reduction target with wetlands alone. Approximately US$1.2 million have been spent on constructing 0.032 km2 of wetlands thus far and a feasibility analysis suggests a cost of US$38 million for an additional 0.409 km2. However, the combined expenditures would only achieve an estimated 13% of the required treatment. The results highlight the potential effectiveness of innovative design strategies for nutrient reduction and the importance of considering realistic field-scale build opportunities, which include accounting for acceptance among landowners, in watershed-scale nutrient reduction simulations using constructed wetlands.

Unraveling the chemical fingerprint of the Miami River sources: Insights from high-resolution mass spectrometry and nontarget analysis

This study investigated the chemical composition of waters in the heavily urbanized and historically polluted Miami River, Florida. The goal was to assess the different water sources and anthropogenic influence in this managed area using nontarget analysis (NTA) combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Surface water samples were collected from 10 sites during five sampling events in the wet season of 2021 and 2022. The HRMS data was processed using Compound Discoverer™ version 3.3, and the results were analyzed using techniques including Principal Component Analysis and Kendrick Mass Defect plots. Results showed a gradient change in the chemical composition from the Everglades to Biscayne Bay endmembers. The Seybold Canal, an adjacent canal, was consistently identified as a unique source of contaminants, contributing its own specific set of tracers. Increased presence and intensity of organic contaminants along the waterway was observed, indicating significant anthropogenic influence in the area. The NTA and post-processing were evaluated for reproducibility, demonstrating robustness with a 71.2% average reproducibility for compounds detected in 3 out of 5 sampling trips. A detection frequency of 80% (4 out of 5) was the set criterion for detected compounds suggested as tracers. To prioritize samples, hierarchical cluster analysis was employed, and potential tracers for each water source were determined. Tracers included natural products and agricultural herbicides and insecticides for the Everglades, anthropogenic contaminants for the Seybold Canal, and a lack of unique tracers for Biscayne Bay. Additionally, urban-influenced contaminants such as flame retardants, insect repellents, pharmaceuticals, and non-agricultural herbicides were identified along the river. This study highlights the impact of human activities on the Miami River and demonstrates the effectiveness of NTA in differentiating and tracking water sources. The results emphasize the importance of reproducibility in NTA and provide guidance on implementing monitoring strategies by prioritizing samples based on chemical compositions.

River connectivity increases the diversity of fish communities in gravel pit lakes

AbstractObjectiveOff‐channel floodplain features are important components of a river system that provide habitat and boost regional species pools, but river–floodplain connectivity is disrupted by anthropogenic activities. The Campbell Lakes in Harrison, Ohio, are formerly isolated gravel pits along the Whitewater River and are connected to the river through flooding‐related erosion. The lakes were first stocked with sport fish by Great Parks of Hamilton County to promote recreational fishing, but stocking ended in 2019 due to frequent connection with the Whitewater River during high flow. We explored how the fish community composition of the Campbell Lakes reflects increasing connectivity with the Whitewater River and among the lakes.MethodsUsing historical aerial photographs and river discharge estimates, we established an approximate timeline of permanent connectivity and potential breaches between the lakes and the Whitewater River from 2000 to 2020. Fish community data collected via electrofishing surveys of the Campbell Lakes in 2004, 2007, 2012, and 2020 were compared to data from surveys of the Whitewater and Great Miami rivers in 1995 and 2013.ResultThe lakes were dominated by centrarchid species in early surveys but showed increased species and family richness with time. Based on an analysis of similarity and nonmetric multidimensional scaling, the lakes' fish communities differed significantly among years and gradually increased in resemblance to the river communities.ConclusionOur results suggest that the Campbell Lakes fish communities are broadening to include taxa from the Whitewater and Great Miami River communities and are shifting from lentic to lotic species. The change in fish community assemblages in the Campbell Lakes demonstrates the potential for gravel pit lakes to serve as artificial floodplain features that can enhance river–floodplain connectivity.

Ecological Impacts of Anthropogenic Fire in Southwestern Ohio, USA, Documented from Public Land Survey Records from 1802 and 1803

Public Land Survey System (PLSS) data collected in 1802 and 1803 were analyzed to evaluate the impacts of anthropogenic fire on pre-Euro-American settlement plant communities within a 50,193 ha (194-square-mile) study area east of what is now Dayton, Ohio. Surveyor data were converted to digital point, line, and polygon files using ArcMap software and mapped with some interpolation based on contemporary GIS data layers including topography, soil moisture, soil type, and Quaternary geology. Sixty-one percent of the study area was covered with woody and non-woody plant communities that are known to be shaped and/or maintained by long-term exposure to surface fires of varying intensities and frequencies: oak-hickory forest, oak woodland, oak savanna, oak barrens, and mesic prairie. Prairies and barrens were concentrated adjacent to the corridors of the Mad River and the Little Miami River and their major tributaries, while oak woodlands were concentrated in adjacent uplands. Oak-sugar maple forest covered an additional 29% of the study area, a community that was interpreted to be pyrophilic oak forest transitioning to mesophytic/ pyrophobic forest in the long-term absence of fire.

The Eads earthwork: Implications for Hopewell ceremonialism

Eads (33Ct750) is a recently discovered Hopewell hilltop earthwork, which encloses ∼10 ha above the Bares Run-O’Bannon Creek-Little Miami River confluence area. Eads falls within the interquartile size range of other Ohio Hopewell earthworks. Like the nearby Foster's enclosure, Eads is a sub-meter earthwork with a single pronounced east-to-west berm, > 70.0 m in length and > 5.0 m in height. The peak of promontory aligns with the center of the Goodnough-Brock mound (33Ct751) at a compass direction of 300o, the summer solstice sunset azimuth for the Middle Woodland cultural period. The archeoastronomy alignment and artifacts recovered from a pedestrian survey and test excavations suggest that the Eads hilltop earthwork was designed, built, and used for ceremonial purposes.

Mosquito surveillance in maritime entry ports in Miami-Dade County, Florida to increase preparedness and allow the early detection of invasive mosquito species.

Invasive mosquito vector species have been inadvertently transported to new areas by humans for decades. Strong evidence supports that monitoring maritime, terrestrial, and aerial points of entry is an essential part of the effort to curb the invasion and establishment of invasive vector mosquito species. Miami-Dade County, Florida is an important operational hub for the cruise ship industry and leisure boats that routinely visit nearby areas in the Caribbean, and freight cargo ships transporting goods from Miami-Dade to Caribbean countries and vice versa. To deal with the increasing public health concern, we hypothesized that mosquito surveillance in small- and medium-sized maritime ports of entry in Miami-Dade is crucial to allow the early detection of invasive mosquito species. Therefore, we have selected 12 small- and medium-sized maritime ports of entry in Miami-Dade County with an increased flow of people and commodities that were not covered by the current mosquito surveillance system. Collection sites were comprised of two distinct environments, four marinas with international traffic of leisure boats, and eight maintenance and commercial freight cargo ship ports. Mosquitoes were collected weekly at each of the 12 collection sites for 24 hours for 6 weeks in the Spring and then for 6 additional weeks in the Summer using BG-Sentinel traps. A total of 32,590 mosquitoes were collected, with Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes aegypti being the most abundant species totaling 19,987 and 11,247 specimens collected, respectively. Our results show that important mosquito vector species were present in great numbers in all of the 12 maritime ports of entry surveyed during this study. The relative abundance of Cx. quinquefasciatus and Ae. aegypti was substantially higher in the commercial freight cargo ship ports than in the marinas. These results indicate that even though both areas are conducive for the proliferation of vector mosquitoes, the port area in the Miami River is especially suitable for the proliferation of vector mosquitoes. Therefore, this potentially allows the establishment of invasive mosquito species inadvertently brought in by cargo freights.

Potential of mapping dissolved oxygen in the Little Miami River using Sentinel-2 images and machine learning algorithms

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is one of the most significant indicators of water quality in the inland water systems. Maintaining DO monitoring systems is time and money consuming since in situ DO data with high spatial and temporal resolution is needed to design appropriate coastal management plans. In this study, we mapped the spatiotemporal changes of DO in the Little Miami River (LMR) using 10-m Sentinel-2 images. We trained two machine learning algorithms – Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) – to predict DO concentrations using spectral predictors derived from the satellite images. Moreover, we calculated several metrics, which include Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Amount of Variance Explained (AVE), Coefficient of Efficiency (COE), and Normalized Mean Bias (NMB) to assess the performance of the models and accuracy of the DO maps. Our results showed a good agreement between modeled and measured DO concentrations with minimal residual errors ranging between 0.201 mg/L and 0.241 mg/L. Furthermore, RF and SVM revealed to be the reliable and effective algorithms to estimate DO concentrations with bands 5 (B5, vegetation red edge) and 8 (B8, NIR) as important predictors. We found the DO concentrations in the LMR to be in good to excellent range (7.3 mg/L to 14.7 mg/L for August and 10.8 mg/L to 14.5 mg/L for October), based on the minimum criterion for warm water habitat in the Ohio Water Quality Standards (WQS). Our findings have provided spatial insight to the current status of DO and the success of the management steps taken to manage and prevent eutrophic problems in the LMR.

Quantifying spatial and temporal relationships between diatoms and nutrients in streams strengthens evidence of nutrient effects from monitoring data.

Observational data are frequently used to better understand the effects of changes in P and N on stream biota, but nutrient gradients in streams are usually associated with gradients in other environmental factors, a phenomenon that complicates efforts to accurately estimate the effects of nutrients. Here, we propose a new approach for analyzing observational data in which we compare the effects of changes in nutrient concentrations in time within individual sites and in space among many sites. Covarying relationships between other, potentially confounding environmental factors and nutrient concentrations are unlikely to be the same in both time and space, and, therefore, estimated effects of nutrients that are similar in time and space are more likely to be accurate. We applied this approach to diatom rbcL metabarcoding data collected from streams in the East Fork of the Little Miami River watershed, Ohio, USA. Changes in diatom assemblage composition were consistently associated with changes in the concentration of total reactive P in both time and space. In contrast, despite being associated with spatial differences in ammonia and urea concentrations, diatom assemblage composition was not associated with temporal changes in these nitrogen species. We suggest that the results of this analysis provide evidence of a causal effect of increased P on diatom assemblage composition. We further analyzed the effects of temporal variability in measurements of total reactive P and found that averaging periods greater than ~1 wk prior to sampling best represented the effects of P on the diatom assemblage. Comparisons of biological responses in space and time can sharpen insights beyond those that are based on analyses conducted on only 1 of the 2 dimensions.

Assessment of climate change impact on high flows in a watershed characterized by flood regulating reservoirs

A climate-induced extreme flow event such as flooding is one of the most devastating natural hazards, which can significantly damage human lives and properties. This study examined the effects of climate change on the high flow conditions in the Great Miami River Watershed in Ohio under two emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). Streamflow for the 21st century was simulated by utilizing a watershed model - SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) and 10 different climate outputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5). The future streamflow was divided into three equal periods: 2016-2043 (early century), 2044-2071 (mid-century), and 2072-2099 (late century) and independently analyzed to compare high flows of respective intervals with baseline periods (1988-2015). The analysis predicted that 7-day, 10-year high-flow (7Q10) would increase by 38% under RCP 4.5 and 44% under RCP 8.5. Similarly, the annual peak flows for study periods were predicted to increase by 26% under RCP 4.5 and 38% under RCP 8.5 from the base period. However, the analysis demonstrated an erratic response for monthly peaks indicating that the peak flow would increase in summer months - May and July to October. Meanwhile, the result did not show any significant increase during the winter season, especially from November to April. The analysis of the four major dams located in the watershed showed that the dam’s peak discharges increase in January, May, and September. Even though increasing peaks were projected in September for the 21st century, the monthly peaks from the watershed outlet were found to be lowest in September as compared to other months. The frequency of future flooding compared to the historical record was found to be increasing in the mid-century under RCP 4.5 and the late century under RCP 8.5. As the future flood is projected to increase, this study finds the reasonable impact of climate change on flood regulating reservoirs/dams in monthly flows. However, daily high flows (90th percentile flow) would be increasing significantly (44% to 250%) under RCP 8.5. Keywords: climate change, high flows, SWAT, Great Miami River Watershed, flood regulating reservoir, assessment DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20211401.5883 Citation: Shrestha S, Sharma S. Assessment of climate change impact on high flows in a watershed characterized by flood regulating reservoirs. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2021; 14(1): 178–191.

Assessment of climate change impact on high flows in a watershed characterized by flood regulating reservoirs

A climate-induced extreme flow event such as flooding is one of the most devastating natural hazards, which can significantly damage human lives and properties. This study examined the effects of climate change on the high flow conditions in the Great Miami River Watershed in Ohio under two emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). Streamflow for the 21st century was simulated by utilizing a watershed model - SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) and 10 different climate outputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5). The future streamflow was divided into three equal periods: 2016-2043 (early century), 2044-2071 (mid-century), and 2072-2099 (late century) and independently analyzed to compare high flows of respective intervals with baseline periods (1988-2015). The analysis predicted that 7-day, 10-year high-flow (7Q10) would increase by 38% under RCP 4.5 and 44% under RCP 8.5. Similarly, the annual peak flows for study periods were predicted to increase by 26% under RCP 4.5 and 38% under RCP 8.5 from the base period. However, the analysis demonstrated an erratic response for monthly peaks indicating that the peak flow would increase in summer months - May and July to October. Meanwhile, the result did not show any significant increase during the winter season, especially from November to April. The analysis of the four major dams located in the watershed showed that the dam’s peak discharges increase in January, May, and September. Even though increasing peaks were projected in September for the 21st century, the monthly peaks from the watershed outlet were found to be lowest in September as compared to other months. The frequency of future flooding compared to the historical record was found to be increasing in the mid-century under RCP 4.5 and the late century under RCP 8.5. As the future flood is projected to increase, this study finds the reasonable impact of climate change on flood regulating reservoirs/dams in monthly flows. However, daily high flows (90th percentile flow) would be increasing significantly (44% to 250%) under RCP 8.5. Keywords: climate change, high flows, SWAT, Great Miami River Watershed, flood regulating reservoir, assessment DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20211401.5883 Citation: Shrestha S, Sharma S. Assessment of climate change impact on high flows in a watershed characterized by flood regulating reservoirs. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2021; 14(1): 178–191.

External Sources Inhibit Benthic Phosphorus Fluxes in the Lower Great Miami River, Southwest Ohio.

Human activities have increased nutrient loadings to aquatic ecosystems, especially during the past century. During low river flow in late summer and early fall, elevated concentrations of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen are present in the temperate Lower Great Miami River and contribute to its eutrophication. Although wastewater treatment plants are suspected of being major sources of P to the river, riverbed sediment has not been examined as an additional potential source of P. Benthic P fluxes were measured at 11 representative locations along the Lower Great Miami River during 3 sampling campaigns in late summer and early fall of 2015. Benthic fluxes of filtered total P (range, -1.6-12 mg m-2 d-1 ) were related inversely to filtered total P concentrations in river water (p = 0.002, r = -0.60). This relationship suggests that elevated P in river water inhibits mobilization from sediment, likely by minimizing the concentration gradient between porewater and overlying water. To effectively mitigate long-term effects of legacy P stored in Lower Great Miami River sediments, external sources must continue to be managed and discharges reduced to allow legacy P to be mobilized and flushed from the system. Reducing nutrient loading will help protect water quality in the Lower Great Miami River, in other comparable rivers, and in downstream aquatic habitats. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:1517-1525. © 2020 SETAC.

The Short Life of Colonel John Anderson of the US Topographical Engineers and His Impact on Early Michigan

The Michigan Historical Review 46:1 (Spring 2020): 107-119©2020 Central Michigan University. ISSN 0890-1686 All Rights Reserved The Short Life of Colonel John Anderson of the US Topographical Engineers and His Impact on Early Michigan By Rusty Davis The year was 1817, and Colonel John Anderson of the US Army Corps of Topographical Engineers stood watching the soldiers of Fort Detroit build one of the many bridges needed to traverse the multiple waterways flowing into Lake Erie. Anderson had been given the job of surveying a military road linking Detroit with the rapids of the Miami River in Ohio. The creation of this important byway was a key assignment in the life of a man who, after a military career that included action in the War of 1812, became active in the early social life of his adopted city of Detroit, and who possessed indirect ties to one of that city’s landmark churches. According to Anderson’s records from his alma mater, the US Military Academy, he was born in Connecticut and appointed to the academy from Vermont.1 Further information about his family, or where in Connecticut he was born, is not recorded. He entered West Point on October 9, 1806, after spending a year at Middlebury College in Vermont. There were only five other cadets in his class. The academy’s Cullum Register lists Anderson as the 28th cadet from the beginning of West 1 There were two Colonel John Andersons in Michigan Territory during this period. Both men were active in the War of 1812 and owned property in Monroe. The other John Anderson was an Indian trader in the settlement of Frenchtown (Monroe) with a large trading house. After the war, he served in several civic positions in Monroe County, including justice of the peace and chief judge of the court of common pleas. Interestingly, that John Anderson also assisted attorney Charles Noble, hired by Julia Anderson, in the sale of property owned in Monroe by Colonel John Anderson of the US Topographical Engineers, to settle her husband’s estate. The other Anderson also owned the toll bridge that landed on the south side of the River Raisin adjacent to the property owned by Colonel John Anderson. These two men, with the same name and rank, and their various roles have often been confused because they are often both recorded as “John Anderson.” 108 The Michigan Historical Review Point in 1802. He graduated on December 9, 1807, and was appointed a second lieutenant in the Regiment of Artillerists.2 Graduating from West Point did not mean that Anderson was immediately assigned to a post, however eager the young man was. He wrote to Colonel Henry Burbeck on December 28, 1807, informing Burbeck that he had accepted the appointment as an artillerist.3 On January 31, 1808, Anderson again wrote, reminding Burbeck that he was awaiting orders. In a formal request, Anderson asked, “Pardon my freedom Sir, if it is your pleasure to order me to one of the Eastern Posts—you will confer a favor on me.”4 Burbeck responded on February 14 and he assigned Anderson to Captain Samuel T. Dyson’s company of artillery at Detroit.5 Burbeck wrote again on February 28, ordering Anderson to be ready to join his company at Detroit and advising that it was the “proper season to proceed on the proper conveyances.”6 Anderson arrived in Detroit on July 31, a full five months after Burbeck had advised him it was the “proper season to proceed.”7 From Anderson’s later letters to a friend, it appears that he was ill and therefore unable to travel; the winter season and the frozen lakes surely had an impact. On his trip to Detroit, he also took the time to visit Niagara Falls. Still, good roads in the West were nonexistent, necessitating travel by water across the Great Lakes to reach Michigan Territory. Shortly after his arrival, Anderson was appointed adjutant to the First Artillery, boasting in a letter to a college friend in Vermont that he received an additional $16 per month for this honor, which brought his total pay to $52.50. However, Anderson...

The Short Life of Colonel John Anderson of the US Topographical Engineers and His Impact on Early Michigan

The Michigan Historical Review 46:1 (Spring 2020): 107-119©2020 Central Michigan University. ISSN 0890-1686 All Rights Reserved The Short Life of Colonel John Anderson of the US Topographical Engineers and His Impact on Early Michigan By Rusty Davis The year was 1817, and Colonel John Anderson of the US Army Corps of Topographical Engineers stood watching the soldiers of Fort Detroit build one of the many bridges needed to traverse the multiple waterways flowing into Lake Erie. Anderson had been given the job of surveying a military road linking Detroit with the rapids of the Miami River in Ohio. The creation of this important byway was a key assignment in the life of a man who, after a military career that included action in the War of 1812, became active in the early social life of his adopted city of Detroit, and who possessed indirect ties to one of that city’s landmark churches. According to Anderson’s records from his alma mater, the US Military Academy, he was born in Connecticut and appointed to the academy from Vermont.1 Further information about his family, or where in Connecticut he was born, is not recorded. He entered West Point on October 9, 1806, after spending a year at Middlebury College in Vermont. There were only five other cadets in his class. The academy’s Cullum Register lists Anderson as the 28th cadet from the beginning of West 1 There were two Colonel John Andersons in Michigan Territory during this period. Both men were active in the War of 1812 and owned property in Monroe. The other John Anderson was an Indian trader in the settlement of Frenchtown (Monroe) with a large trading house. After the war, he served in several civic positions in Monroe County, including justice of the peace and chief judge of the court of common pleas. Interestingly, that John Anderson also assisted attorney Charles Noble, hired by Julia Anderson, in the sale of property owned in Monroe by Colonel John Anderson of the US Topographical Engineers, to settle her husband’s estate. The other Anderson also owned the toll bridge that landed on the south side of the River Raisin adjacent to the property owned by Colonel John Anderson. These two men, with the same name and rank, and their various roles have often been confused because they are often both recorded as “John Anderson.” 108 The Michigan Historical Review Point in 1802. He graduated on December 9, 1807, and was appointed a second lieutenant in the Regiment of Artillerists.2 Graduating from West Point did not mean that Anderson was immediately assigned to a post, however eager the young man was. He wrote to Colonel Henry Burbeck on December 28, 1807, informing Burbeck that he had accepted the appointment as an artillerist.3 On January 31, 1808, Anderson again wrote, reminding Burbeck that he was awaiting orders. In a formal request, Anderson asked, “Pardon my freedom Sir, if it is your pleasure to order me to one of the Eastern Posts—you will confer a favor on me.”4 Burbeck responded on February 14 and he assigned Anderson to Captain Samuel T. Dyson’s company of artillery at Detroit.5 Burbeck wrote again on February 28, ordering Anderson to be ready to join his company at Detroit and advising that it was the “proper season to proceed on the proper conveyances.”6 Anderson arrived in Detroit on July 31, a full five months after Burbeck had advised him it was the “proper season to proceed.”7 From Anderson’s later letters to a friend, it appears that he was ill and therefore unable to travel; the winter season and the frozen lakes surely had an impact. On his trip to Detroit, he also took the time to visit Niagara Falls. Still, good roads in the West were nonexistent, necessitating travel by water across the Great Lakes to reach Michigan Territory. Shortly after his arrival, Anderson was appointed adjutant to the First Artillery, boasting in a letter to a college friend in Vermont that he received an additional $16 per month for this honor, which brought his total pay to $52.50. However, Anderson...

Impact of global climate change on stream low flows: A case study of the great Miami river watershed, Ohio, USA

Climate change will profoundly affect hydrological processes at various temporal and spatial scales. This study is focused on assessing the alteration of water resources availability and low flows frequencies driven by changing climates in different time periods of the 21st century. This study evaluates the adaptability of prevailing Global Circulation Models (GCMs) on a particular watershed through streamflow regimes. This analysis was conducted in the Great Miami River Watershed, Ohio by analyzing historical and future simulated streamflow using 10 climate model outputs and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The climate change scenarios, consisting of ten downscaled Coupled Model Intercomparision Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) climate models in combination with two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) were selected based on the correlation between observed records and model outputs. Streamflow for three future periods, 2016-2043, 2044-2071 and 2072-2099, were independently analyzed and compared with the baseline period (1988-2015). Results from the average of ten models projected that 7-day low flows in the watershed would increase by 19% in the 21st century under both RCPs. This trend was also consistent for both hydrological (7Q10, 1Q10) and biological low flow statistics (4B3, 1B3). Similarly, average annual flow and monthly flows would also increase in future periods, especially in the summer. The flows simulated by SWAT in response to the majority of climate model projections showed a consistent increase in low flow patterns. However, the flow estimates using the Max-Planck-Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM-LR) climate output resulted in the biological based low flows (4B3, 1B3) decreasing by 22.5% and 33.4% under RCP 4.5 and 56.9% and 63.7% under RCP 8.5, respectively, in the future when compared to the baseline period. Regardless, the low flow ensemble from the 10 climate models for the 21st century seemed to be slightly higher than that of historical low flows. Keywords: climate change, low flows, SWAT, climate models, Great Miami River Watershed DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20191201.4486 Citation: Shrestha S, Sharma S, Gupta R, Bhattarai R. Impact of global climate change on stream low flows: A case study of the great Miami river watershed, Ohio, USA. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2019; 12(1): 84–95.

Impact of global climate change on stream low flows: A case study of the great Miami river watershed, Ohio, USA

Climate change will profoundly affect hydrological processes at various temporal and spatial scales. This study is focused on assessing the alteration of water resources availability and low flows frequencies driven by changing climates in different time periods of the 21st century. This study evaluates the adaptability of prevailing Global Circulation Models (GCMs) on a particular watershed through streamflow regimes. This analysis was conducted in the Great Miami River Watershed, Ohio by analyzing historical and future simulated streamflow using 10 climate model outputs and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The climate change scenarios, consisting of ten downscaled Coupled Model Intercomparision Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) climate models in combination with two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) were selected based on the correlation between observed records and model outputs. Streamflow for three future periods, 2016-2043, 2044-2071 and 2072-2099, were independently analyzed and compared with the baseline period (1988-2015). Results from the average of ten models projected that 7-day low flows in the watershed would increase by 19% in the 21st century under both RCPs. This trend was also consistent for both hydrological (7Q10, 1Q10) and biological low flow statistics (4B3, 1B3). Similarly, average annual flow and monthly flows would also increase in future periods, especially in the summer. The flows simulated by SWAT in response to the majority of climate model projections showed a consistent increase in low flow patterns. However, the flow estimates using the Max-Planck-Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM-LR) climate output resulted in the biological based low flows (4B3, 1B3) decreasing by 22.5% and 33.4% under RCP 4.5 and 56.9% and 63.7% under RCP 8.5, respectively, in the future when compared to the baseline period. Regardless, the low flow ensemble from the 10 climate models for the 21st century seemed to be slightly higher than that of historical low flows. Keywords: climate change, low flows, SWAT, climate models, Great Miami River Watershed DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20191201.4486 Citation: Shrestha S, Sharma S, Gupta R, Bhattarai R. Impact of global climate change on stream low flows: A case study of the great Miami river watershed, Ohio, USA. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2019; 12(1): 84–95.

Before the Pioneers: Indians, Settlers, Slaves, and the Founding of Miami by Andrew K. Frank

Reviewed by: Before the Pioneers: Indians, Settlers, Slaves, and the Founding of Miami by Andrew K. Frank Jessica Chopin Roney, Whitney Martinko, and Samantha Seeley (bio) KEY WORDS Miami, Florida, Tequestas, Seminoles, Seminole Wars, Spain, Henry Flagler, Julia Tuttle Before the Pioneers: Indians, Settlers, Slaves, and the Founding of Miami. By Andrew K. Frank. (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2017. Pp. 161. Paper, $16.95.) Andrew K. Frank’s Before the Pioneers is a deep history that explores 4,000 years of human settlement on the north bank of the Miami River, the location of present-day downtown Miami, Florida. Frank’s volume examines a site that is only a few square acres, but the book ranges through thousands of years of history. He begins with Florida’s geologic formation and the migration of people to the Florida peninsula some 12,000–14,000 years ago. The book ends where, as he notes, many histories of Miami open—with booster Julia Tuttle, industrialist Henry Flagler, and the incorporation of the city in 1896. In between, Frank explores the many people who shaped the north bank site to suit their own purposes—Tequestas and Seminoles, Bahamian mariners and shipwrecked sailors, fugitive slaves, deserters, Spanish missionaries, and American plantation owners. Throughout the book, Frank traces the physical tools, structures, and landscape modifications the inhabitants of the north bank left behind. The Tequestas were the first to form a sedentary community at the site, which they occupied as early as 3,500–4,000 years ago. Frank calls the Tequestas the north bank’s first urban planners. They built a complex of round buildings and burial mounds that was home to up to 1,000 people, as well as a ceremonial site across the river. In the sixteenth century, the Tequestas allowed Spanish missionaries to build a palisaded fort and a mission at the site. The Spanish and the Tequestas abandoned the [End Page 327] north bank only in the early eighteenth century when slave raiders threatened the region. After they left, a series of deserters, runaway slaves, and shipwrecked sailors created autonomous communities in the abandoned structures, where they remained despite the changing imperial winds that passed the Florida peninsula from Spanish to British and back to Spanish rule. When enslaved people and two slaveholders bearing Spanish and then United States land grants arrived at the north bank in the early nineteenth century, they found fruit trees that had been planted by Bahamian sailors decades before. The north bank plantation was short-lived, however. During the Second and Third Seminole Wars, the plantation buildings were abandoned, and the United States army repurposed them to create Fort Dallas, a launching point for raids against the Seminoles. By linking these physical remainders of human habitation over thousands of years, Frank argues that “the Tequesta Indians and other earlier inhabitants of the Miami River built the foundations for the city of Miami long before Julia Tuttle, Henry Flagler, or any of the other city ‘founders’ or so-called pioneers were born” (3). Frank’s concern for physical remnants stems from a contemporary debate over archaeology and the future of downtown Miami. In 2013, archaeologists discovered the remains of the Tequesta north bank town during a historical analysis of the site for a major residential and retail complex. Frank suggests that Miami has long destroyed the old to make way for the new. “Through little or no fault of their own, Miamians lack a sense of the deep historical terrain that they occupy,” he writes (5). This was by design. In the 1890s, developers demolished much of the evidence of earlier north bank settlements to lay out the new city. African American workers leveled Tequesta mounds to build Flagler’s Royal Palm Hotel and the city grid, and the remains of Fort Dallas were eventually destroyed or removed beyond the city center. Flagler’s hotel was anointed “the birthplace of Miami,” a moniker that rooted the founding of the city in a venture that boosters believed symbolized “progress and modernity” rather than the past (106–107). Frank shows how communities create the past they need, highlighting narratives that will best serve the interests of tourism or...

Microwear Analysis of Hopewell Bladelets from Two Sites Associated with the Stubbs Earthworks, Southwest Ohio

Abstract Hopewell bladelets represent one of a handful of standardized blade industries in prehistoric North America. In the past 25 years, archaeologists produced a great deal of published research on Hopewell bladelets. Yet much remains to be explained about this lithic tradition. This project presents the results of functional analysis of bladelets from two sites near the Stubbs Earthworks along the Little Miami River in southwest Ohio. Results indicate that bladelet use at these sites largely focused on bone/antler processing. This is in contrast to the generalized function of many of the artifacts in Ohio bladelet assemblages and provides researchers with another piece of the puzzle in examining the variation in bladelet function between sites and across regions.

Characterization of River Networks: A GIS Approach and Its Applications.

Fluvial geomorphology provides the basis for characterizing complex river networks and evaluating biophysical processes within watersheds. Understanding the spatial organization of morphological features, their influencing processes, and resultant geomorphic diversity in stream networks are important for efficient restoration, river health assessment, and improving our knowledge of the resilience of riverine landscapes. River characterization is a means to determine the biophysical character of river networks but many methods are fraught with pitfalls, such as the use of incorrect variables and limited acknowledgment of the hierarchical organization of rivers. In this paper, a top-down geographic information system-based approach for determining the physical typology of river networks is outlined. A suite of multivariate analyses are used to develop a nomenclature for functional process zones (FPZs) - large tracts of the river network with similar hydro-geomorphological character. Applied to the Little Miami River, Ohio, six distinct FPZs emerged, which had a nonuniform distribution along the river network. Some FPZs repeated downstream; others were rare in terms of total length and number of FPZ segments. The physical structure of the Little Miami River network was analyzed using a series of community metrics. Application of this approach for river monitoring, establishing reference conditions, as well as management of threatened and endangered species and asset trading is highlighted.

A Case Study of Preliminary Cost-Benefit Analysis of Building Levees to Mitigate the Joint Effects of Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge

Sea-level rise (SLR) will magnify the impacts of storm surge; the resulting severe flooding and inundation can cause huge damage to coastal communities. Community leaders are considering implementing adaptation strategies, typically hard engineering projects, to protect coastal assets and resources. It is important to understand the costs and benefits of the proposed project before any decision is made. To mitigate the flooding impact of joint effects of storm surge and SLR, building levee segments is chosen to be a corresponding adaptation strategy to protect the real estate assets in the study area—the City of Miami, FL, USA. This paper uses the classic Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) to assess the cost efficiency and proposes corresponding improvements in the benefit estimation, by estimating the avoided damages of implementing levee projects. Results show that the city will benefit from implementing levee projects along the Miami River in both a one-time 10 year storm event with SLR and cumulative long-term damage scenarios. This study also suggests that conducting CBA is a critical process before making coastal adaptation planning investment. A more meaningful result of cost effectiveness is estimated by accounting for the appreciation and time value. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to verify how the choice of discount rate influences the result. Uncertain factors including the rate of SLR, storm intensification, land use changes, and real estate appreciation are further analyzed.

River sediment nitrogen removal and recycling within an agricultural Midwestern USA watershed

AbstractThe Lower Great Miami River (LGMR) lies within the Mississippi River watershed and contributes to nutrient loads that promote seasonal hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Moreover, the ...