Watershed Management Model Research Articles

Institutional Analysis of Watershed Manangement in Batam Island

This study aimed to look at the institutional condition of the current watershed management and institutional models (management authority) which were relevant to Batam Island in the future. The data collection was conducted by interview techniques and was validated through focus group discussions. The data were described and analyzed with SCP (structure, conduct, performance) method for relevant stakeholders’ data, legislation, and with KIPA (quadrant interpretative performance analysis) method for data of interest and power of stakeholders. The results showed that the watershed management institutional in Batam Island was still overlapping. According to the regulations, the Management Board (BP) of Batam Island was given the authority to manage and to use land and water; on the other hand the Local Government (Mayor) was facilitated by BPDAS KEPRI (Watershed Management Institute of Riau Islands) to also arrange an integrated watershed management. The results of discussions showed that BP Batam was an institute of having interest and power as well as key position in achieving successful watershed management. Based on this study, it was suggested that BP Batam should be given authority in watershed management in Batam Island, which keeps referring to the norms, standards, procedures, and indicators set by the central government.

Governance, Policy, and Economics of Intergovernmental River Basin Management

This article examines governance, policy, and economic complexities of intergovernmental river basin management. The watershed or river basin approach is examined within the context of integrated water resources management as a means to efficiently manage interstate river systems. Organizational, institutional, and budget structures of watershed management models are explored and benchmarked with economic performance measures of prototypical river basin commissions in the United States. River basin organizations such as the Delaware River Basin Commission have the requisite authority under Federal/state compact to manage a river as a single entity provided financial structures are in place to sustainably fund water resources programs in interstate basins. To sustainably finance watershed programs, river basin governance organizations would benefit from revisiting the economic user pays principles long practiced in Europe, Latin America, and Oceania and advocated by the continental-scale European Union Water Framework Directive.

Semi-arid watershed management: the experimental farm and representative catchment of the High Mountains of Sinai Peninsula

The need for watershed management models in the Arab Republic of Egypt - particularly in the remote arid and semi–arid desert and mountain regions - surfaced once again as one of the very demanding instruments for socio–economic and socio–ecological sustainable development. Highland watershed management and mountainous agriculture are highly impacted under the aspects of climate change, reflected in an average of seven years cyclic drought periods. Based on an extensive research–survey work in the High Mountains of Sinai Peninsula 'Middle East' (i.e., Sinai Peninsula Research: phase I '2000–2008': survey; phase II '2010–2013': analysis 'SinaiAlps Project'), this paper aims to present a semi–arid watershed management model via an ecology–based interdisciplinary context. It integratively and comparatively analyses the ecological impacts and governance aspects of Sinaitic water management attempts (i.e., small water dams construction) via modelling a representative catchment for the runoff yield in terms of landform(s) structure (i.e., water share zoning and management in mountainous agriculture units).

Sustainable Water Supply Model in Ambon Island

Land-use changes from forest to other use will affect watershed hydrological system that lead to water availability in Leitimur Peninsula watershed, Ambon Island. It aims to analyze sustainability index and sensitive attribute of watershed management and to design watershed management model in supporting sustainability of water resources in Leitimur Peninsula. The analysis applies the Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) model and the dynamic model (Stella). The findings signifies that multidimensional sustainability status is 50.97% indicating quite sustainable, while the best management model is by performing land and forest rehabilitation (LFR) and agricultural extensification through agro-forestry system.

Analyzing streamflow changes: irrigation-enhanced interaction between aquifer and streamflow in the Republican River basin

Abstract. Groundwater-fed irrigation has altered surface and groundwater interactions in the Republic River basin (RRB) in the midwestern United States, where agriculture heavily depends on irrigation. The decreasing flow trend recorded at the RRB gauging station since the 1950s reflects the synthetical effect of dynamic interactions between surface water and groundwater systems, which has been enhanced by groundwater pumping and irrigation return flow. This study uses a systematic modeling approach to analyze the conjunctive effects of pumping and return flow on streamflow. A watershed management model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), is modified and established for the Frenchman Creek basin (FCB), a subbasin of RRB, to examine the causes of streamflow changes. The baseflow component in SWAT is linked to aquifer storage so that the model can simulate the combined effects of groundwater pumping and irrigation return flow on natural streamflow. Results show that irrigation has not only depleted streamflow but also changed the flow pattern and seasonal variability. The changes can be decomposed into decrease in the slow component (baseflow) and increase in the fast components (surface and subsurface flow). Since the fast components are subject to higher variability than the slow component, the annual streamflow variability is amplified. Agricultural water use in this region also has changed the groundwater storage seasonal regime from the pattern of "summer recharge and winter discharge" in the past to "summer discharge and winter recharge" at present. This challenges the existing groundwater modeling, which usually assumes fixed recharge pattern and rates.

Sustainable Management and Improvement of Soil Physical Properties and Rice Grain Yield in Degraded Inland Valleys of Southeastern Nigeria

Nigeria is relatively blessed with rain and high potential of inland valleys. The major constraints in the utilization of these inland valleys for sustainable rice based cropping include, poor soil properties maintenance, inadequate weed and water control. In an attempt to replicate the successful Japanese Satoyama watershed management model in the African agro-ecosystems, sawah rice cultivation technology has been introduced to West Africa in the last two decades. This study was conducted in an inland valley at Akaeze, Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Southeastern Nigeria, in 2010, 2011 and 2012 cropping seasons, to evaluate the effects of four different tillage specifications and different amendments under sawah water management system on soil properties and rice grain yield. Sawah has been described as an Indo-Malaysian word for padi (Malayan word for paddy) or lowland rice management system comprising bunding, puddling, levelling and good water management through irrigation and drainage. A split- plot in a randomized complete block design was used to evaluate these two factors. The four

Mapping detailed soil property using small scale soil type maps and sparse typical samples

Soil type maps at the scale of 1︰1 000 000 are used extensively to provide soil spatial distribution information for soil ero- sion assessment and watershed management models in China. However, the soil property maps produced through conventional direct linking method usually suffer low accuracy as well as the lack of spatial details within a soil type polygon. This paper presents an effec- tive method to produce detailed soil property map based on representative samples which were extracted from each polygon on the 1︰1 000 000 soil type map. The representative sample of each polygon is defined as the location that can represent the largest area within the polygon. The representativeness of a candidate sample is determined by calculating the soil-forming environment condition similarities between the sample and other locations. Once the representative sample of each polygon has been chosen, the property values of the existing typical samples are assigned to the corresponding representative samples with the same soil type. Finally, based on these repre- sentative samples, the detailed soil property map could be produced by using existing digital soil mapping methods. The case study in XuanCheng City, Anhui Province of China, demonstrated the proposed method could produce soil property map at a higher level of spatial details and accuracy: 1) The soil organic matter (SOM) map produced based on the representative samples can not only depict the detailed spatial distribution of SOM within a soil type polygon but also largely reduce the abrupt change of soil property at the boundaries of two adjacent polygons. 2) The Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of the SOM map based on the representative samples is 1.61, and it is 1.37 for the SOM map produced by using conventional direct linking method. Therefore, the proposed method is an effec-

Evaluating DEM source and resolution uncertainties in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool

DEMs as important input parameters of environmental risk assessment models are notable sources of uncertainties. To illustrate the effect of DEM grid size and source on model outputs, a widely used watershed management model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), was applied with two newly available DEMs as inputs (i.e. ASTER GDEM Version 1, and SRTM Version 4.1). A DEM derived from 1:10,000 high resolution digital line graph (DLG) was used as a baseline for comparisons. Eleven resample resolutions, from 5 to 140 m, were considered to evaluate the impact of DEM resolution on SWAT outputs. Results from a case study in South-eastern China indicate that the SWAT predictions of total phosphorus and total nitrogen decreased substantially with coarser resample resolution. A slightly decreasing trend was found in the SWAT predicted sediment when DEMs were resampled to coarser resolutions. The SWAT predicted runoff was not sensitive to resample resolution. For different data sources, ASTER GDEM did not perform better than SRTM in SWAT simulations even it was provided with a smaller grid size and higher vertical accuracy. The predicted outputs based on ASTER GDEM and SRTM were similar, and much lower than the ones based on DLG. This study presents potential uncertainties introduced by DEM resolutions and data sources, and recommends strategies choosing DEMs based on research objects and maximum acceptable errors.

Evaluation of non-point source pollution and river water quality using a multimedia two-model system

Summary In this study, an integrated two-model system composed of a multimedia watershed model and a river water quality model was developed to effectively simulate the impacts of non-point source (NPS) pollution on river water quality. NPS pollution loadings from Kaoping River Basin were calculated using the Integrated Watershed Management Model (IWMM). Results from the IWMM modeling were used as the input data for the Kaoping River water quality evaluation using the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP) modeling. The land use patterns classified using SPOT images and Digital Elevation Model techniques with the aid of Erdas Imagine® process and ArcView® geographical information system were applied to assist the NPS pollution simulation. Results indicate that land use patterns of orchard farms and farmland areas were the major causes of the NPS pollution, and they should be effectively controlled. Results show that higher flow rates (>200 m 3 /s) were observed in the wet seasons, which would cause the increase in NPS pollution loadings. Results demonstrate that the integral approach could develop a direct linkage between upstream land use changes and downstream water quality. Using water quality modeling alone would underestimate the impact of NPS pollution on river water quality. The introduction of the integrated two-model system shows a significant advance in estimating the water quality.

Watershed management in an urban setting: process, scale and administration

Efforts in post-industrial countries to refine environment and planning administration in the face of unprecedented urban growth have important implications for ecological systems and human quality of life. This paper uses the case of an urban riparian corridor in South East Queensland, Australia to contribute to understandings of interactions between land use planning processes, watershed management initiatives and broader administrative structures in urban and rapidly urbanising settings. In particular it examines the understudied application of watershed management to an urban setting. Analysis of changes to the structure and function of urban riparian corridor management over time show that changes have occurred as a result of broader policy and institutional change in three distinct phases: top-down watershed management policy (1996–2000), regional natural resource and population growth management policy (2001–2005) and the recent re-emergence of local government as the dominant actor in a multilevel networked context (2006–2008). Trends toward regional scale approaches and increased urban planning initiatives have tended to concentrate responsibilities for urban environmental management with local government. This is in contrast to most rural natural resource management experience, and highlights the importance of meta-governance frameworks in ensuring the enduring applicability of the watershed management model to urban and rapidly urbanising catchments.

Integrated Water Quality Improvement Approach with Economic Consideration Using a Decision Support System and Application for Water Quality Design Storm Development

Integrated Water Quality Improvement Approach with Economic Consideration Using a Decision Support System and Application for Water Quality Design Storm DevelopmentAs an effective stormwater management tool implementing the integrated, watershed-based approach, the Los Angeles County Flood Control District has been developing the Watershed Management Modeling System (WMMS) for all of the County's 3,000-square mile coastal watersheds. Details of the hydrologic factors in the watershed have been represented in terms of rainfall variability, impervious cover...Author(s)Youn SimSourceProceedings of the Water Environment FederationSubjectSession 91: Challenges and Successes Implementing TMDLs in Southern California: A Critical Look at Essential Strategies and ApproachesDocument typeConference PaperPublisherWater Environment FederationPrint publication date Jan, 2011ISSN1938-6478SICI1938-6478(20110101)2011:9L.6083;1-DOI10.2175/193864711802766597Volume / Issue2011 / 9Content sourceWEFTECFirst / last page(s)6083 - 6093Copyright2011Word count376

Developing Nonpoint‐Source Suspended Solids Control Strategies Using Multimedia Watershed Management Modeling

Kaoping River Basin is the largest and most intensively used river basin in Taiwan. In this study, 14 types of land-use patterns in the basin are classified with the aid of the Erdas Imagine process (Erdas, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia) and ArcView geographic information system (GIS) (ESRI, Redlands, California). Results from GIS identification and field verification indicate that orchard gardens, rice paddies, and sugarcane fields dominate the farmland areas in the basin. Investigation results indicate that nonpoint-source (NPS) pollution has significant contributions to the suspended solids load to the Kaoping River during the wet season. The average suspended solids concentrations increased from below 64 mg/ L in dry seasons to more than 1700 mg/L in wet seasons. The Integrated Watershed Management Model (Systech Engineering, Inc., San Ramon, California) was applied to simulate the water quality and evaluate the NPS suspended solids load to the river. Modeling results show that forestation and land-use management are feasible best management practices for NPS suspended solids reduction.

Preliminary identification of watershed management strategies for the Houjing river in Taiwan

The Houjing River watershed is one of the three major river watersheds in the Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Based on the recent water quality analysis, the Houjing River is heavily polluted. Both point and non-point source (NPS) pollutants are the major causes of the poor water quality in the Houjing River. Investigation results demonstrate that the main point pollution sources included municipal, agricultural, and industrial wastewaters. In this study, land use identification in the Houjing River watershed was performed by integrating the skills of geographic information system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS). Results show that the major land-use patterns in the upper catchment of the Houjing River watershed were farmlands, and land-use patterns in the mid to lower catchment were residential and industrial areas. An integrated watershed management model (IWMM) and Enhanced Stream Water Quality Model (QUAL2K) were applied for the hydrology and water quality modeling, watershed management, and carrying capacity calculation. Modeling results show that the calculated NH₃-N carrying capacity of the Houjing River was only 31 kg/day. Thus, more than 10,518 kg/day of NH₃-N needs to be reduced to meet the proposed water quality standard (0.3 mg/L). To improve the river water quality, the following remedial strategies have been developed to minimize the impacts of NPS and point source pollution on the river water quality: (1) application of BMPs [e.g. source (fertilizer) reduction, construction of grassy buffer zone, and land use management] for NPS pollution control; (2) application of river management scenarios (e.g. construction of the intercepting and sewer systems) for point source pollution control; (3) institutional control (enforcement of the industrial wastewater discharge standards), and (4) application of on-site wastewater treatment systems for the polishment of treated wastewater for water reuse.

Integrated Watershed Management Modeling: Generic Optimization Model Applied to the Ipswich River Basin

A generic integrated watershed management optimization model was developed to efficiently screen a broad range of technical, economic, and policy management options within a watershed system framework and select the optimal combination of management strategies and associated water allocations for designing a sustainable watershed management plan at least cost. The watershed management model integrates both natural and human elements of a watershed system including the management of ground and surface water sources, water treatment and distribution systems, human demands, wastewater treatment and collection systems, water reuse facilities, nonpotable water distribution infrastructure, aquifer storage and recharge facilities, storm water, and land use. The model was formulated as a linear program and applied to the upper Ipswich River Basin in Massachusetts. Our results demonstrate the merits of integrated watershed management by showing (1) the relative efficacy and economic efficiency of undervalued or underutilized management options such as incentive pricing; (2) the value of management strategies that serve several functions such as the benefits of increased infiltration for meeting both storm water and water supply management objectives; and (3) that both human and environmental water needs can be met by simultaneously implementing multiple diverse management tools, which in this case study led to achieving 70% of the recommended in-stream flow with only 25% decrease in net benefits.

Evaluating Watershed Management within a River Basin Context Using an Integrated Indicator System

Factor analysis is used to develop an integrated indicator system that evaluates the state of watersheds from three perspectives (subindexes): water-use management, flood management, and environment and ecosystem management. The system, which has a total of nine indicators, is applied to evaluate the state of watershed management in the Han River basin, South Korea. For all the subindexes, preliminary tests, namely, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test and the Bartlett test of sphericity, are conducted to evaluate the suitability of the data collected for factor analysis. The variables related to each subindex are then grouped into three factors (indicators) with the variables’ statistical characteristics taken into account. The results of the application of the system to the case study show that the indicator system reasonably depicts the state of the watersheds in the Han River basin and can be effectively applied to resolve concerns in watershed management; the system is one of the inevitable elements in the adaptive watershed management process. Examining the correlations between the indicators proves that the selection of the indicators and their variables is appropriate from a statistical perspective. In addition to providing evaluation information about the state of watersheds from multiple perspectives, the system can be used as a preprocessing step for watershed management modeling regarding the choice of watershed variables within the context of river basins.

Integrated Watershed Management for Increasing Productivity and Water-Use Efficiency in Semi-Arid Tropical India

Poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition are pervasive in the semi-arid tropics (SAT) of South Asia, including India. In rural areas, most of the poor make their livelihoods on the use of natural resources, which are degraded and inefficiently used. This is because of the inadequate traditional management practices of managing agriculture as well as the fact that resulting crop yields are much below the expected potential yields. ICRISAT in the early 1970s initiated research on watersheds for integrated use of land, water, and crop management technologies for increasing crop production through efficient use of natural resources, especially rainfall that is highly variable in the SAT and is the main cause of year-to-year variation in crop production in India. Improved watershed management on Vertisols more than doubled crop productivity, and rainfall-use efficiency increased from 35% to 70% when compared with traditional technology. After many years of implementing and evaluating these improved technologies in on-farm situations, many lessons were learned and they formed part of the integrated watershed management model currently being pursued by ICRISAT in community watersheds in rural settings. This watershed model is more holistic and puts rural communities and their collective actions at center stage for implementing improved watershed technologies with technical backstopping and convergence by consortium partners. We describe here the achievements made in enhancing crop productivity and rainfall-use efficiency by implementing improved technologies in on-farm community watersheds in India.

Searching for simplified farmers' crop choice models for integrated watershed management in Thailand: A data mining approach

This study used the C4.5 data mining algorithm to model farmers' crop choice in two watersheds in Thailand. Previous attempts in the Integrated Water Resource Assessment and Management Project to model farmers' crop choice produced large sets of decision rules. In order to produce simplified models of farmers' crop choice, data mining operations were applied for each soil series in the study areas. The resulting decision trees were much smaller in size. Land type, water availability, tenure, capital, labor availability as well as non-farm and livestock income were found to be important considerations in farmers' decision models. Profitability was also found important although it was represented in approximate ranges. Unlike the general wisdom on farmers' crop choice, these decision trees came with threshold values and sequential order of the important variables. The decision trees were validated using the remaining unused set of data, and their accuracy in predicting farmers' decisions was around 84%. Because of their simple structure, the decision trees produced in this study could be useful to analysts of water resource management as they can be integrated with biophysical models for sustainable watershed management.

Runoff and nutrient losses during winter periods in cold climates—requirements to nutrient simulation models

Large areas in Europe may experience frozen soils during winter periods which pose special challenges to modelling. Extensive data are collected in small agricultural catchments in Nordic and Baltic countries. An analysis on measurements, carried out in four small agricultural catchments has shown that a considerable amount of the yearly nutrient loss occurs during the freezing period. A freezing period was defined as the time period indicated by the maximum and minimum points on the cumulative degree-day curve. On average 6-32% of the yearly runoff was generated during this period while N-loss varied from 5-35% and P loss varied from 3-33%. The results indicate that infiltration into frozen soils might occur during the freezing period and that the runoff generating processes, at least during a considerable part of the freezing period, are rather similar compared to the processes outside the freezing period. Freeze-thaw cycles affect the infiltration capacity and aggregate stability, thereby the erosion and nutrient losses. The Norwegian catchment had a high P loss during the freezing period compared to the other catchments, most likely caused by catchment characteristics such as slope, soil types, tillage methods and fertiliser application. It is proposed to use data, collected on small agricultural dominated catchments, in the calibration and validation of watershed management models and to take into account runoff and nutrient loss processes which are representative for cold climates, thereby obtaining reliable results.

Management of nutrient emissions of Axios River catchment: Their effect in the coastal zone of Thermaikos Gulf, Greece

The estimation of nutrient fluxes, the determination of spatial and temporal response and the understanding of biogeochemical changes in the past, present and future in the Axios River catchment, in Greece, as well as the impacts to the coastal zone of Thermaikos Gulf were accomplished by the use of harmonized watershed and coastal zone models. The mathematical model MONERIS was the watershed management model that was used to model the export loads of nutrients in Axios River. MONERIS was developed to estimate the nutrient inputs into river basins by point sources and various diffuse pathways. Watershed hydrologic and water quality data were collected and synthesized to develop input data sets for the simulation of Axios River catchment. The model was modified to better assess organic nitrogen export loads in Mediterranean watersheds. The results showed the importance of agricultural and livestock activities, concerning their nutrients emissions in the River. MONERIS was integrated with the coastal zone model WASP 6.0 to assess the impacts of the nutrient loads to the eutrophication status of the coastal zone. Several management scenarios were assessed. Management scenarios included measures for reduction in the emissions from the fertilizer plant of Veles, removal of phosphorous from the detergents in FYROM, treatment of urban wastes to EU Standards, reduction in N-fertilizer input, reduction in erosion and the green scenario that represented the maximum reduction scenario of all the measures together. The model simulations indicated that the coastal zone of Axios mouth will be eutrophic for nitrate (2.69–3.34 μM) and phosphate (0.2–0.68 μM) and upper mesotrophic for chlorophyll-a (0.74–1.45 μg/l) for the scenarios tested. The results suggest that the impact of the management scenarios will be largely negligible (no change in trophic status) for the Thermaikos Gulf sector nearby the Axios River due to additional sources such as the loads from Thessaloniki's waste water treatment plant which appear to affect the region to a greater extent. The integration of watershed and coastal zone models can be used to assess management scenarios in order to illustrate the significance of various land use practices to the eutrophication of the Gulf.

Application of integrated GIS and multimedia modeling on NPS pollution evaluation

In Taiwan, nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is one of the major causes of the impairment of surface waters. I-Liao Creek, located in southern Taiwan, flows approximately 90 km and drains toward the Kaoping River. Field investigation results indicate that NPS pollution from agricultural activities is one of the main water pollution sources in the I-Liao Creek Basin. Assessing the potential of NPS pollution to assist in the planning of best management practice (BMP) is significant for improving pollution prevention and control in the I-Liao Creek Basin. In this study, land use identification in the I-Liao Creek Basin was performed by properly integrating the skills of geographic information system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS). In this analysis, 35 types of land use patterns in the watershed area of the basin are classified with the aid of Erdas Imagine process system and ArcView GIS system. Results indicate that betel palm farms, orchard farms, and tea gardens dominate the farmland areas in the basin, and are scattered around on both sides of the river corridor. An integrated watershed management model (IWMM) was applied for simulating the water quality and evaluating NPS pollutant loads to the I-Liao Creek. The model was calibrated and verified with collected water quality and soil data, and was used to investigate potential NPS pollution management plans. Simulated results indicate that NPS pollution has significant contributions to the nutrient loads to the I-Liao Creek during the wet season. Results also reveal that NPS pollution plays an important role in the deterioration of downstream water quality and caused significant increase in nutrient loads into the basin's water bodies. Simulated results show that source control, land use management, and grassy buffer strip are applicable and feasible BMPs for NPS nutrient loads reduction. GIS system is an important method for land use identification and waste load estimation in the basin. Linking the information of land utilization with the NPS pollution simulation model may further provide essential information of potential NPS pollution for all subregions in the river basin. Results and experience obtained from this study will be helpful in designing the watershed management and NPS pollution control strategies for other similar river basins.