| Title: | Assessing thermally stressful events in a Rhode Island coldwater fish habitat using the SWAT model |
| Authors: | Chambers, B., S.M. Pradhanang and A.J. Gold |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Journal: | Water |
| Volume (Issue): | 9(9) |
| Pages: | |
| Article ID: | 667 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/w9090667 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic and pollutant |
| Primary Application Category: | stream and/or soil temperature assessment |
| Secondary Application Category: | model and/or data comparison |
| Watershed Description: | Cork Brook, a small forested system located in the city of Scituate in the northeast part of Rhode Island, US. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| Abstract: | It has become increasingly important to recognize historical water quality trends so that
the future impacts of climate change may be better understood. Climate studies have suggested
that inland stream temperatures and average streamflow will increase over the next century in New
England, thereby putting aquatic species sustained by coldwater habitats at risk. In this study we
evaluated two different approaches for modeling historical streamflow and stream temperature in a
Rhode Island, USA, watershed with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), using (i) original
SWAT and (ii) SWAT plus a hydroclimatological model component that considers both hydrological
inputs and air temperature. Based on daily calibration results with six years of measured streamflow
and four years of stream temperature data, we examined occurrences of stressful conditions for brook
trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) using the hydroclimatological model. SWAT with the hydroclimatological
component improved modestly during calibration (NSE of 0.93, R2 of 0.95) compared to the original
SWAT (NSE of 0.83, R2 of 0.93). Between 1980–2009, the number of stressful events, a moment in time
where high or low flows occur simultaneously with stream temperatures exceeding 21 deg C, increased
by 55% and average streamflow increased by 60%. This study supports using the hydroclimatological
SWAT component and provides an example method for assessing stressful conditions in southern
New England’s coldwater habitats. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | SWAT model; coldwater fish; stream temperature; hydroclimatological model; water
quality; hydrology |