| Title: | Hydrological and water quality assessment in a suburban watershed with mixed land uses using the SWAT model |
| Authors: | Qiu, Z. and L. Wang |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Journal: | Journal of Hydrologic Engineering |
| Volume (Issue): | 19(4) |
| Pages: | 816-827 |
| Article ID: | |
| DOI: | 10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0000858 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic and pollutant |
| Primary Application Category: | pollutant cycling/loss and transport |
| Secondary Application Category: | hydrologic assessment |
| Watershed Description: | 78.97 km^2 Neshanic River in northwest New Jersey, U.S. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| Abstract: | This study applied the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to the Neshanic River watershed, a suburban watershed with mixed land uses in Central New Jersey, U.S. The urban lands were dominantly in low-density residential development. The simulated streamflow and water quality impacts including total suspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were compared to the measured values in the watershed. The Nash-Suttcliffe efficiency was 0.60 for daily and 0.68 for monthly streamflow during the calibration period 1997-2002 and 0.37 and 0.69 during the validation period 2003-2008, respectively. The model satisfactorily simulated the streamflow, but underestimated the streamflow variability (i.e., the flashiness of this suburban watershed). The measured water quality data at seven locations in the watershed were in general agreement with their corresponding simulated values, but the agreement varied by pollutant. The observed and simulated values show the most consistent agreement in TN, followed by TP and TSS. With the embedded algorithms and parameters used to simulate the hydrological and water quality responses in urban lands, the SWAT model reasonably simulated the hydrological and water quality conditions in this suburban watershed. The modeling results confirmed that both TSS and TP were water quality concerns under the current land use and management conditions in the watershed. Management measures should be implemented to achieve a 9 percent load reduction for TSS and 49 percent load reduction for TP to meet the required water quality standards in the watershed. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | SWAT, suburban watershed hydrology, streamflow, total suspended solids, total nitrogen, total phosphorus |