Watershed Yield Research Articles

Assessing Crop Water Productivity under Different Irrigation Scenarios in the Mid–Atlantic Region

The continuous growth of irrigated agricultural has resulted in decline of groundwater levels in many regions of Maryland and the Mid–Atlantic. The main objective of this study was to use crop water productivity as an index to evaluate different irrigation strategies including rainfed, groundwater, and recycled water use. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate the watershed hydrology and crop yield. It was used to estimate corn and soybean water productivity using different irrigation sources, including treated wastewater from adjacent wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The SWAT model was able to estimate crop water productivity at both subbasin and hydrologic response unit (HRU) levels. Results suggest that using treated wastewater as supplemental irrigation can provide opportunities for improving water productivity and save fresh groundwater sources. The total water productivity (irrigation and rainfall) values for corn and soybean were found to be 0.617 kg/m3 and 0.173 kg/m3, respectively, while the water productivity values for rainfall plus treated wastewater use were found to be 0.713 kg/m3 and 0.37 kg/m3 for corn and soybean, respectively. The outcomes of this study provide information regarding enhancing water management in similar physiographic regions, especially in areas where crop productivity is low due to limited freshwater availability.

Review of Yield Comparison Options for Planning Irrigation Reservoirs in Ungauged Watersheds

Irrigation reservoir design is often associated with ungauged watersheds. Irrigation system planners have the option of selecting either traditional institutional guidelines or more recently calibrated and verified hydrologic models to compute watershed yield. A design watershed yield is the key for sustainable irrigation reservoir development. Design values not only should lead to reliable estimates but also require the incorporation of safety factors for both rainfall uncertainty and modelling uncertainties. Empirical design yield calculation options in guidelines require explicit rationalization to determine appropriate design levels. Use of popular watershed models , developed and calibrated with other datasets, too requires the guidance to convert the estimations as design watershed yield with the use of safety factors. Therefore, both options need to clearly express the reliability of yield estimations and the associated safety factors for a sustainable practice of water management. Comparison of available alternatives in the light of methods and incorporation of safety is a necessity to select the appropriate option for water resources design in ungauged watersheds. Accordingly, the objective of the present work is to carry out a critical review of available methods to recommend a selection for estimation of streamflow yield from ungauged watersheds. A comprehensive literature review is carried out considering available text books, guidelines and other literature. The study looked at the runoff estimation methods, strengths and difficulties, incorporation of safety factors etc., when deriving design watershed yield from watershed yield. The review of 110 related documents revealed that, although there is literature on models for the estimation of watershed yield, there is a gap in the applicability at various locations and in the conversion to design watershed yield. Irrigation Department Sri Lanka has reported the most detailed direct yield model with threshold considerations. Unit Hydrograph model has many text book references while HEC HMS is the most commonly cited process-based model for runoff estimations. The review shows that, amidst the drawbacks in the present documentation, the best available optionfor a practicing engineer to compute design watershed yield is to use a similar approach that is indicated in the guidelines of Irrigation Department of Sri Lanka. There is an urgent necessity to verify guideline recommended design watershed yield estimation methods by using observed data and take measures to incorporate explicit safety factors.

Construction and Application of Snow-melting Runoff Model Based on MODIS Satellite Data

It is very complicated to accurately describe the process of watershed runoff yield and concentration, which is comprehensive influenced by snow covering, temperature, precipitation, the wetland areas and other factors in the basin of Kaidu River upstream of Chahanwusu Reservoir. It is that real-time updating MODIS satellite snow cover products MOD10A2 and 30 meters by 30 meters of DEM data are applied to calculate elevation~ basin area ~ snow covering area curve, virtual free reservoir is put forward to simulate the wetlands concentration of upstream Bayinbuluke and sahentuohai hydrological gauge stations and mixed melting snow and runoff yield under saturated storage concentration model is constructed in this article. The model behaved good to simulate the Inflow process of Chahanwusu Reservoir, and the relative error between simulated and measured processes reached 83.79%, the deterministic coefficient reaches about 0.8, which is better supporting Chahanwusu Reservoir’s operation scheduling and dispatch decision.

Applying an Exact Solution of the Brutsaert and Nieber Baseflow Model for Watershed Yield Prediction: A Case Study for the Spoon River at Seville, Illinois, USA

Applying an Exact Solution of the Brutsaert and Nieber Baseflow Model for Watershed Yield Prediction: A Case Study for the Spoon River at Seville, Illinois, USA

Concentrations, Loads, and Yields of Organic Carbon in Streams of Agricultural Watersheds

Carbon is cycled to and from large reservoirs in the atmosphere, on land, and in the ocean. Movement of organic carbon from the terrestrial reservoir to the ocean plays an important role in the global cycling of carbon. The transition from natural to agricultural vegetation can change the storage and movement of organic carbon in and from a watershed. Samples were collected from 13 streams located in hydrologically and agriculturally diverse watersheds, to better understand the variability in the concentrations and loads of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) in the streams, and the variability in watershed yields. The overall annual median concentrations of DOC and POC were 4.9 (range: 2.1-6.8) and 1.1 (range: 0.4-3.8) mg C L, respectively. The mean DOC watershed yield (± SE) was 25 ± 6.8 kg C ha yr. The yields of DOC from these agricultural watersheds were not substantially different than the DOC yield from naturally vegetated watersheds in equivalent biomes, but were at the low end of the range for most biomes. Total organic carbon (DOC + POC) annually exported from the agricultural watersheds was found to average 0.03% of the organic carbon that is contained in the labile plant matter and top 1 m of soil in the watershed. Since the total organic carbon exported from agricultural watersheds is a relatively small portion of the sequestered carbon within the watershed, there is the great potential to store additional carbon in plants and soils of the watershed, offsetting some anthropogenic CO emissions.

Sources and transformations of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in the Neponset River Watershed

The major source of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in coastal waters is often terrestrial dissolved organic matter originating in coastal watersheds and delivered to the ocean by rivers or streams. While studies of carbon cycling in large rivers dominate the literature, small rivers deliver the bulk of the freshwater to coastal waters (∼60%). However, the variability of organic matter fluxes in small rivers requires high spatial and temporal resolution measurements to adequately represent the processes controlling distributions and fluxes. In this study, CDOM was measured monthly for 2 years at 15 sampling sites throughout a small, coastal, urban watershed (∼300 km2), the Neponset River Watershed, and CDOM variability was found to depend on land use type, discharge/precipitation, and growing degree days (temperature). Forest, wetland, residential, industrial, and golf course CDOM end‐members were measured and differentiated using CDOM fluorescence, CDOM absorbance, absorbance slopes, total organic carbon and total nitrogen, and photo‐ and biological lability. Simple statistical models of CDOM end‐member behavior could explain 40–70% of the observed seasonal variability. Using these simple relationships, trends in total CDOM loading behavior can be predicted under various scenarios of land use change and global warming. Overall, detailed measurements of CDOM throughout the Neponset River Watershed yield new insights into the watershed processes that affect terrestrial CDOM delivery to coastal oceans.

Relative magnitudes and sources of sediment in benchmark watersheds of the Conservation Effects Assessment Project

Sediment is one of the principal pollutants of surface waters of the United States. Efforts by the USDA to quantify and control sediment erosion have historically focused on fields and upland areas. There is a growing body of evidence in agricultural areas, however, that the locus of sediment erosion has shifted from fields and uplands to channels. This is a critical issue in the Conservation Effects Assessment Project that evaluates the effectiveness of controls on sediment erosion. Rapid geomorphic assessments indicate that channel contributions are significant sources of sediment in the studied watersheds. The relative importance of channel processes are obtained by comparing “reference” yields for the ecoregion with the respective watershed yields. Annual suspended sediment yields for the Conservation Effects Assessment Project watersheds exceed the median value for stable streams by 243% in Iowa, 290% in New York, 630% in Mississippi, and between 2,120% and 7,410% in Oklahoma. Erosion from streambanks is an important process that must be addressed in management strategies aimed at controlling sediment production and delivery.

Modeling Mercury Fluxes and Concentrations in a Georgia Watershed Receiving Atmospheric Deposition Load from Direct and Indirect Sources

This paper presents a modeling analysis of airborne mercury (Hg) deposited on the Ochlockonee River watershed located in Georgia. Atmospheric deposition monitoring and source attribution data were used along with simulation models to calculate Hg buildup in the subwatershed soils, its subsequent runoff loading and delivery through the tributaries, and its ultimate fate in the mainstem river. The terrestrial model calculated annual watershed yields for total Hg ranging from 0.7 to 1.1 μg/m2. Results suggest that approximately two-thirds of the atmospherically deposited Hg to the watershed is returned to the atmosphere, 10% is delivered to the river, and the rest is retained in the watershed. A check of the aquatic model results against survey data showed a reasonable agreement. Comparing observed and simulated total and methylmercury concentrations gave root mean square error values of 0.26 and 0.10 ng/L, respectively, in the water column, and 5.9 and 1 ng/g, respectively, in the upper sediment layer. Sensitivity analysis results imply that mercury in the Ochlockonee River is dominated by watershed runoff inputs and not by direct atmospheric deposition, and that methylmercury concentrations in the river are determined mainly by net methylation rates in the watershed, presumably in wetted soils and in the wetlands feeding the river.

The Influence of Conceptual Flow Simulation Model Parameters on Model Solution

This article investigates the influence of conceptual flow simulation model parameters (i.e coefficients and constants that need to be estimated in calibration) on model solution (surface runoff) to understand the characteristics of the model. A new conceptual watershed yield model (WYM) was employed. There are four physical parameters, two fitting coefficients and two initial estimates of the surface water and groundwater storagesthat control the functioning of the model. The conceptual model was applied on Ling River near Kahuta and detailed sensitivity analysis was performed to explore the most sensitive model parameters. The most sensitive model parameters worked out were C g (a fitting coefficient, which reflects the rate at whichgroundwater runoff occurs), w r (watershed retention is the initial rainfall losses before runoff begins), p gr (inputparameter that reflects the discharge capacity of the groundwateraquifer). The model parameters like i c (infiltration coefficient), g wsm (input parameter that depends on the subsurface storage available in the watershed) and e p (input parameter) have negligible effect on model solution. It was observed that w r (watershed retention) is the only surface runoff controlling parameter and p gr and C g are the groundwater runoff controlling parameters.

Atmospheric deposition and solute export in giant sequoia ? mixed conifer watersheds in the Sierra Nevada, California

Atmospheric depostion and stream discharge and solutes were measured for three years (September 1984 — August 1987) in two mixed conifer watersheds in Sequoia National Park, in the southern Sierra Nevada of California. The Log Creek watershed (50 ha, 2067–2397 m elev.) is drained by a perennial stream, while Tharp's Creek watershed (13 ha, 2067–2255 m elev.) contains an intermittent stream. Dominant trees in the area include Abies concolor (white fir), Sequoiadendron giganteum (giant sequoia), A. magnifica (red fir), and Pinus lambertiana (sugar pine). Bedrock is predominantly granite and granodiorite, and the soils are mostly Pachic Xerumbrepts. Over the three year period, sulfate (SO42−), nitrate (NO3−), and chloride (Cl−1) were the major anions in bulk precipitation with volume-weighted average concentrations of 12.6, 12.3 and 10.0 μeq/1, respectively. Annual inputs of NO3-N, NH4-N and SO4-S from wet deposition were about 60 to 75% of those reported from bulk deposition collectors. Discharge from the two watersheds occurs primarily during spring snowmelt. Solute exports from Log and Tharp's Creeks were dominated by HCO3−, Ca2+ and Na+, while H+, NO3−, NH4+ and PO43− outputs were relatively small. Solute concentrations were weakly correlated with instantaneous stream flow for all solutes (r2 <0.2) except HCO3− (Log Cr. r2 = 0.72; Tharp's Cr. r2 = 0.38), Na+ (Log Cr. r2 = 0.56; Tharp's Cr. r2 = 0.47), and silicate (Log Cr. r2 = 0.71; Tharp's Cr. r2 = 0.49). Mean annual atmospheric contributions of NO3-N (1.6 kg ha−1), NH4-N (1.7 kg ha−1), and SO4-S (1.8 kg ha−1), which are associated with acidic deposition, greatly exceed hydrologic losses. Annual watershed yields (expressed as eq ha−1) of HCO3− exceeded by factors of 2.5 to 37 the annual atmospheric deposition of H+.

Development of Chester's New Water Supply

After reconnaissance and some topogra hical surveys of the sites for dams and impounding reservoirs and of conduit routes, alternate preliminary designs for the dams were prepared. Dam sites were investigated from a geological viewpoint, and studies were made of the hydrology, including the watershed yields and the compensating release waters required. Alternate preliminary designs for water filtration plants were prepared, and economic studies of the water pumping problem, embracing the use of electric, steam and diesel power, were made. The investigation also included the preparation of estimates covering capital and operating costs and the increased water rate which would result from the adoption of the program. A search of prior water rights was undertaken, since this factor was important in determining the compensating waters to be released. Consideration was given to the Chester Municipal Authority service area's projected requirements ior the year 2000, as well as to the financial resources of the authority, for economics was always foremost.

Watershed Yields

Journal AWWAVolume 31, Issue 1 p. 133-136 Article Watershed Yields J. D. Carpenter, J. D. CarpenterSearch for more papers by this author J. D. Carpenter, J. D. CarpenterSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 January 1939 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1551-8833.1939.tb12362.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume31, Issue1January 1939Pages 133-136 RelatedInformation