Evaluating Water Quality Parameters associated with Urbanization using BASINS 3.0

Kristi Shaw

Water Quality Standards to Monitor for Urban Development (30 TAC 216)

• Total Suspended Solids• Total Nitrogen• Total Phosphorous• Chemical Oxygen Demand• Biochemical Oxygen Demand

(BOD)

The BASINS Experience

BASINS 3.0 Capabilities• Data extraction tools and project builders• Water quality assessment tools (TARGET and

ASSESS) to address small scale characterization needs

• Watershed Delineation tools• Utilities to classify DEMs, land use, and soils • SWAT and HSPF (both watershed loading and

transport models)• QUAL2E (instream water quality model)• PLOAD (one dimensional model that estimates

nonpoint pollution loads)

Fecal Coliform Levels Exceeding Texas Regulatory Criteria in 1989 using ASSESS

Delineating watersheds (subbasins)

Soil Coverage (convert to grid)

Needed to addFrom LBJ AreaCataloging Unit

BASINSModels

SWAT HSPF QUAL2E PLOAD

SWAT (Soil Water Assessment Tool)

• Physically based model developed to predict the impact of land management practices on water, sediment, and agricultural chemical yields on complex watersheds

• Considers varying soils, land use, and management conditions

• Assimilates point source contributions • Performs flow and water quality routing

in stream reaches

Classifying land use

Distribution of Hydrologic Response Units

SWAT View

HSPF (Hydrological Simulation Program Fortran) ver 1.2

• watershed model that simulates nonpoint source runoff and pollutant loadings for a watershed

• combines these with point source contributions

• performs flow and water quality routing in reaches.

HSPF-entire area (selecting Barton Creek Watershed)

HSPF (Creating Project)

Permit Compliance System

ONLY FOR PENNSYLVANIA

HSPF (sub-basin 1 only)

HSPF-Reaches

HSPF- Fatal Error

HSPF- Point Sources

HSPF- What it’s suppose to look like.

GenScn: Viewing HSPF

Qual2E

PLOAD (estimates pollution loads)

Event Mean Concentrations (EMCs)LUCODE LEVEL2 BOD TOT N TSS Total P FC

11 Residential 25.5 1.5 41 0.57 2000012 Commercial Services 23 1.1 55.5 0.32 690013 Industrial 14 1 60.5 0.28 970014 Transportation, Communications 6.4 1.5 73.5 0.22 5300016 Mixed Urban or Built-Up Land 17.2 1.25 57.9 0.35 2240017 Other Urban or Built-Up Land 17.2 1.25 57.9 0.35 2240021 Cropland and Pasture 4 1.7 107 1.3 2600022 Orchards, Groves, Vineyards, Nurseries 4 1.7 107 1.3 2600023 Confined Feeding Operations 4 1.7 107 1.3 2600024 Other Agricultural Land 4 1.7 107 1.3 2600031 Herbaceous Rangeland 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20032 Shrub and Brush Rangeland 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20033 Mixed Rangeland 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20041 Deciduous Forest Land 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20042 Evergreen Forest Land 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20043 Mixed Forest Land 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20051 Streams and Canals 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20052 Lakes 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20053 Reservoirs 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20061 Forested Wetlands 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20062 Nonforested Wetlands 0.5 0.2 1 0.01 20075 Strip Mines, Quarries, and Gravel Pits 14 1 60.5 0.28 970076 Transitional Areas 14 1 60.5 0.28 9700

Source: Nonpoint Source Pollution in the Mission BasinGIS in Water Resources exercise

Impervious Factor

LUCODE LEVEL2 Imperv11 Residential 2512 Commercial Services 8513 Industrial 7014 Transportation, Communications 6516 Mixed Urban or Built-Up Land 7517 Other Urban or Built-Up Land 6021 Cropland and Pasture 1522 Orchards, Groves, Vineyards, Nurseries 223 Confined Feeding Operations 224 Other Agricultural Land 231 Herbaceous Rangeland 232 Shrub and Brush Rangeland 233 Mixed Rangeland 241 Deciduous Forest Land 242 Evergreen Forest Land 243 Mixed Forest Land 251 Streams and Canals 152 Lakes 153 Reservoirs 161 Forested Wetlands 162 Nonforested Wetlands 175 Strip Mines, Quarries, and Gravel Pits 576 Transitional Areas 10

Source: PLOAD Users Manual

Adding EMC and Impervious Factor Files

Adding EMC…cont

PLOAD Errors

Let’s just look at Barton Creek subbasin

PLOAD- OUTPUT

GenScn

GenScn (selecting multiple records of 31625- Fecal Coliform)

Genscn (selecting multiple records of Nitrogen –TKN)

Conclusion

• Basins 3.0 is still in development phase and has programming glitches

• The HSPF and SWAT model learning curve is very time consuming

• Help tools are useful for BASINS, but SWAT and HSPF lack good users manual