Hydrological and Water Quality Assessment in a Suburban Watershed with Mixed Land Uses Using the SWAT Model
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 19, Issue 4
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, United States. The urban lands were prominently in low-density residential development. The simulated streamflow and water quality parameters including total suspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) were compared to those of the measured values in the watershed. The Nash-Suttcliffe efficiency was 0.60 for daily streamflow 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 9% load reduction for TSS and 49% load reduction for TP to meet the required water-quality standards in the watershed.
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Acknowledgments
Funding support for this study was provided by the Office of Policy Implementation and Watershed Restoration, formerly the Division of Watershed Management, at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection through the Clean Water Act’s Section 319(h) program (Grant Contract #RP06-068), and New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute at Rutgers University (Subcontract #2190). The authors are grateful to Ms. Christine Hall, State Resource Conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Somerset, New Jersey, and Ms. Abigail Jones and Mr. Patrick Natale, the former watershed specialists at the North Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council, Clinton, New Jersey, who helped conduct the agricultural land-use inventory and develop urban-lawn and agricultural management practices for the modeling effort. The comments from three anonymous reviewers are very helpful in improving the quality of this paper. Copyediting by Dr. Tony Prato at the University of Missouri-Columbia significantly enhances the presentation and overall quality of the paper.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 19 • Issue 4 • April 2014
Pages: 816 - 827
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 11, 2012
Accepted: Jun 1, 2013
Published online: Jun 4, 2013
Discussion open until: Nov 4, 2013
Published in print: Apr 1, 2014
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