| Title: | Streamflow and nutrients from Karst Watershed with downstream embayment: Chapel Branch Creek |
| Authors: | Williams, T.M., D.M. Amatya, D.R. Hitchcock and A.E. Edwards |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Journal: | Journal of Hydrologic Engineering |
| Volume (Issue): | 19(2) |
| Pages: | 428-438 |
| Article ID: | |
| DOI: | 10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0000794 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic only |
| Primary Application Category: | karst effects |
| Secondary Application Category: | Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) applications |
| Watershed Description: | 15.55 km^2 Chapel Branch Creek, located in Orangeburg County in central South Carolina, U.S. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| Abstract: | Understanding sources of streamflow and nutrient concentrations are fundamental for the assessment of pollutant loadings that can lead to water quality impairments. The objective of this study was to evaluate the discharge of three main tributaries, draining different land uses with karst features, as well as their combined influences on total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) levels in reservoir-like embayment (R-E) on a stream entering Lake Marion, South Carolina. From 2007–2009, hydrology, TN, and TP data were collected from the 1,555-ha Chapel Branch Creek (CBC) watershed. In general, monthly streamflow in all tributaries was found to be −10% of rainfall, and as little as 0.1% in the smallest tributary. The third tributary flowed into a cave system and discharged via a cave spring (CS) into the embayment while gaining a sustained groundwater flow from a second cave (GW) system. The CS flow was substantially larger than the flow measured in the other tributaries. The small amount of rainfall that became surface flow and the large flow at the cave spring indicated a significant water loss from the surface watershed to subsurface flow or a groundwater source area substantially larger than the surface watershed. Nutrient concentrations in flows from tributaries draining various land uses were not significantly different (α ¼ 0.05) for most of the locations. A
simple water balance was developed to estimate the R-E outflow to Lake Marion using measured discharges from three tributaries, change in storage computed using a bathymetric survey, daily lake level changes, rainfall, and computed evaporation. Mean monthly TN and TP concentrations in the embayment were substantially lower than the observed means from the two tributary outlets and the CS into the embayment, indicating a loss in the embayment. The second cave system at CS, representing an unknown subsurface drainage area, was the source of nearly 50% of TP loading, over 50% of flow, and over 70% of TN loading to CBC. These results may have implications in water quality management of the CBC watershed. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Subsurface flow; Groundwater; Sinkhole; Streamflow; Runoff coefficient (ROC); Water balance; Phosphorus; Nitrogen; Total maximum daily load (TMDL); Lake Marion |